Educational program

The overall aim of the program is to support outstanding Ph.D. researchers in order that they are well prepared for research work on an internationally competitive level, thus opening broad perspectives for their future careers in industry and in academia.
To attain this goal, early stage researchers will be trained in theoretical scientific knowledge especially concerning cofactor functions in enzymatic reactions, with a special lecture series and modern experimental and modeling methods, as well as in logical scientific reasoning, effective communication and ethical aspects. In addition to the all-embracing scientific education, the RTG intends to increase the Ph.D. researchers’ awareness of career prospects. To this aim, the RTG will provide a lecture series given by scientists from industry in order to expose the young researchers to future perspectives.
Ph.D. researchers should be able to view beyond the borders of their discipline, and thus be qualified to recognize, analyze and overcome disciplinary boundaries. These requirements exceed the competences of an individual research group and rather demand an interdisciplinary training, as well as the use of joint resources.
The duration of the Ph.D. degree is intended to be three years (four years for the fast-track program). Training will be based predominantly on independent laboratory research. All other components of the Ph.D. program, such as methods workshops, lectures and seminar series, should require a maximum of 20% of the total time commitment.
It is an overall objective of the RTG “Functional Diversity of Cofactors in Enzymes” that early stage Ph.D. researchers will benefit from the already established close collaborations within the RTG. The  whole RTG consortium will support Ph.D. researchers in all aspects during their thesis time.