We support graduate students through an interdisciplinary portfolio of offers through our Graduate Training Program. Our offers span from research-oriented courses on mobile robotics to soft skills courses on video production. The program is tailored to our PhD students’ needs and encourages interdisciplinarity within our Cluster. We regularly announce the upcoming courses on the PhenoRob mailing list.
For general offers, see the University of Bonn’s Argelander Program for Early Career Researchers and at Forschungszentrum Jülich JuDocS: Jülich Center for Doctoral Researchers and Supervisors.
PhenoRob Offers
Soft Skills Courses
Michael Mende
In-person or live via Zoom two-day course
3 Credit Points
Course content:
- Rules of research integrity and Good Scientific Practices
- How to Avoid Research Misconduct
- Introduction to the standard statutes of research integrity (Singapore Statement, , ALLEA Code of Conduct, DFG Codex, Guidelines of the Hochschulrektorenkonferenz) as well as local regulations
- Raising awareness for the significance of Good Scientific Practices with respect to different scientific disciplines
- Preparing scientists for the complexities and dilemmas of the day-to-day research life by promoting moral and value development:
- Recognizing Scientific Misconduct
- Data storage, handling and protection
- Documentation
- Publication process and Authorship
- Plagiarism
- Conflict Resolution / Ombudssystem
Annette Kolb
coachacademics
Live half-day course via Zoom
1 Credit Point
Course content:
- Learn about the function of a scientific abstract in general
- Be informed about the characteristics and specific challenges of different types of abstracts
- Engage in writing exercises for different types of abstracts and identify their personal challenges and hurdles
- Feel more comfortable regarding their own upcoming abstract writing activities
Caroline Ketting
KettingCoaching
Live course via Zoom
1 Credit Point
Course content:
- Overview of application procedures outside of academia
- Advice on best strategies to enter the non-academic job market
- Individual consultations on your personal portfolio
Richard Fuchs & Ingo Knopf
NaWik
Live two-day course via Zoom
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- Basics of science communication
- Central aspects of good science communication in interaction between science communicators and the media
- Players in science communication
- The key message
- Changes in communication
- Science and the media
- Trust in science
Christine Kohistani
Samin World
In-person two-day course
3 Credit Points
Course content:
- Awareness-rising for formalities and deadlines
- Formal procedures and regulations
- Do’s and Don’ts in oral Ph.D. examinations
- Training units for preparation of the talk and the defense
- Coping strategies with unexpected or difficult questions
Daniela Elsner
daniela-elsner.com
Live course via Zoom
1 Credit Point
Course content:
- Conduct a professional self-assessment and analyze guiding motives, goals, and competencies
- Recognize career-driving decision-making and action patterns in career biography
- Identify resources and areas for development and clarify career vision
- Formulate concrete action steps regarding further individual career progress
Self-taught online course
Plant 2030 Academy
2 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.deutsch-uni.com/portal/shop/course/course-detail/41?course-schedule-id=86https://www.plant2030-academy.de/online-learning/online-courses/design-basics-scientists
Berat Gider and Thomas Gottschalk
NRW.Bank
In-person course
Course content:
- Discover the entrepreneurial potential of your research
- Best-practice examples from the agricultural sector
- Business modelling and financial modelling
Guillaume Lobet & Sarah Garé
Live course via Zoom
Course Contents:
As researchers, we work hard on projects, put our hearts, souls and blood (not really, but you get the idea) in papers, proposals, presentations. And yet, these papers get rejected, the proposal not funded, the presentation thrashed. This is hard. However, failure and criticism are everywhere in academia. They are even central components of the scientific process, indispensable for the whole research enterprise. In this workshop we will discuss failure in academia, explore its many facets and, most importantly, discuss how to deal with it in order to make the best of it.
Philipp Lottes
Pheno-Inspect
Live course via Zoom
Course content:
- Transitioning from research to becoming a business owner
- Insights into the agricultural technological sector
- Start-up culture
Self-taught online course
DUO Deutsch-Uni Online
3 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.deutsch-uni.com/portal/shop/course/course-detail/41?course-schedule-id=860
Astrid Schmitz
ZWM
Live course via Zoom
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- Understand the fundamental context of acquiring and use of third-party funds in research
- Acquire important methodological know-how for preparing successful research proposals
- Receive tips and tricks, as well as a checklist for the individual phases of preparing a research proposal
- Enhance your own "proposal competence" and improve the chances of success for your research proposals
Jan Faßbender
So geht YouTube
Live course via Zoom
Course content:
- Advantages of YouTube as a platform for information exchange
- Advantages of the medium video
- How to integrate a YouTube channel with other websites and social media
- How to find the right target audience, address them in videos and keep their attention
- Different ways to give a value to a video
- Tricks and tools to be better found on YouTube
- The right structure for an appealing video
Robert Kötter
TwentyOne Skills
In-person course
1 Credit Point
Course content:
- Building Effective Collaborative Relationships:
- Strategies for fostering collaboration and building trust in diverse teams
- Navigating Power Dynamics and Influencing without Authority
- Addressing power imbalances and fostering inclusive decision-making
- Tools for lateral leadership
Thomas Hartmann
Live course via Zoom
Course content:
- How must images be cited in a legally compliant manner?
- What special possibilities of use exist under copyright law for courses and in research groups?
- What specific opportunities does Open Access offer for the use of images?
- Which (Creative Commons) licenses should you specify when creating your own images that you want to share?
- How do you find freely available or freely usable images?
Martin Esters
Fast Forward Theater
In-person course
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- How to use the power of the moment: spontaneity and creativity
- Tools and methods for efficient teamwork
- Body language and constructive communication
- Increase your resilience – embrace uncertainty!
Talk by Cyrill Stachniss
Caroline Ketting
KettingCoaching
Individual coaching sessions via Zoom
Support on individual career topics:
- Where do you want to go?
- Would you like to stay in academia?
- What are your possibilities outside academia?
- How do you manage career development and professional changes?
- Are there obstacles to overcome?
- How can you proceed in a targeted and efficient way?
- All this without losing sight of work-life balance?
Eva Reichmann
beruf & leben
Live course via Zoom
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- Analyze, which field of work suits your personality traits, life and career desires and core competencies
- Identify interesting and suitable fields of work in industry/public sector or science
- Develop first steps of an appropriate career plan
- If you are not ready to decide: develop an exit strategy (when and how should I get out of an academic career?) for your subsequent withdrawal from a more scientifically oriented career plan
Thomas Markus
thomasmarkus
In-person course
1 Credit Point
Course content:
- Appropriate leadership styles and their characteristics
- Approach and deal with ‘team dynamics’, ‘proximity bias’ and ‘remote first approaches’
- Design-tools for remote and hybrid meetings
- Implementation of new formats and their immediate application
Elmar Klebanowski
New Balance Coaching
In-person course
1 Credit Point
Course content:
- Introduction to the Common Ground Model
- Application of model to work team
- Transformation into high-performance team
Mark Edwards
Kompetenzia International
Live two-day course via Zoom
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- The purpose of a network
- Construction and maintenance of a co-operation network (or research group)
- Strategic co-operation within the scientific community:
universities and non-university research institutions, businesses and organizations - Growing the network: how to approach a prospective partner
- Typical problems in networks
- Post-corona techniques: how to network at a social distance
- Use of online networks; linked in, academic networks, Twitter and other social media
- Formal and informal networks in the scientific community
- The advantages of Giving as a professional work-style
Andrei Flueras
Lukas Bischof Hochschulberatung
Live course via Zoom
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- Developing research projects
- Project planning, execution and completion
- Time & self-management tools
Ute Lange
i3kommunikation.de
In-person, one full day course
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- Roles and tasks of moderation: What makes a good moderator?
- Confident handling of different settings
- Listening as a key skill
- Dealing with hierarchies: Confidence and self-assurance in challenging contexts
- Developing your own moderation style: inspiration from role models and adapting to your personality
Christine Erlach
NARRATA Consult
Live course via Zoom
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- Preparing an authentic narration about your research
- Using the archetypical narrative structure “Hero’s Journey”
- Using critical incidents curves for finding the storyline
- Listening to the stories of others and telling your own research in a storyline
Self-taught online course
Plant 2030 Academy
2 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.plant2030-academy.de/online-learning/online-courses/linkedin-scientists
Pajam Sobhani
Latest Thinking
Live course via Zoom
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- Writing a script
- Video Shooting
- Post Production
- Dissemination and Impact Analysis
Anna Müller & Greta Mittweg-Grapentin
enaCom
Live course via Zoom
Course content:
- Overview of career options in the agricultural sector
- Transfer and Innovation potential of your research
- Start-up as a career option, personality requirements, first steps and how to find supporters
Lesley-Anne Weiling
Write English
In-person course
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- One-day structured writing retreat to fast-forward writing projects
- Support PhenoRob PhD candidates with their writing as they head towards publication
- Participants will dedicate themselves to their writing project for one day
- Facilitators will be on-site to supervise the day and provide individual assistance when required
- Participants will be expected to commit to spending the whole day on their writing
Dr. Christian Stein
Lukas Bischof Hochschulberatung
Live two-day course via Zoom
3 Credit Points
Course content:
- Systematic planning & implementation of projects
- The 4 phases of a project cycle and their properties
- Creating new approaches to solutions for your current challenges
- Getting to know helpful online tools for digital project work
- Using concepts and methods from project management for your PhD
Elisabeth Hoffmann
Richard Fuchs & Ingo Knopf
NaWik
In-person course
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- Goal: Why am I communicating?
- Target audience: Who am I addressing?
- Role: Who am I?
- Topic & Message: What am I communicating?
- Formats: Where do I communicate?
- Media: Which tools can I use to communicate?
- Style: How do I communicate?
22 February, 2021
Elisabeth Hoffmann
Live course via Zoom
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- Introduction to media work including an overview of the different channels of science communication
- Learn how to set up a communication concept professionally
- Receive ideas for customized measures for your own topics and interests
- Discuss guidelines for good science communication
- Find out who and what can support you to communicate effectively
Imke Lode
Lindengruen
In-person course
1 Credit Point
Course content:
- Becoming aware of our own and others’ diversity and “cultural and diversity glasses”
- Perception, implicit bias and Critical Whiteness
- Socio-cultural imprints and the cultures of academic disciplines
- Key cultural imprints and their impact on scientific cultures of collaboration
- Anti-bias scientific working cultures and diversity competences
Lesley-Anne Weiling
Write English
In-person course
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- Understand what makes good academic writing and the influence of culture on writing style
- Learn the structure of an English paper and how to indicate your paper’s importance
- Discover how to introduce a narrative structure into your paper
- Find out how to create cohesion in paragraphs and write well-structured sentences
- Learn classic mistakes made when writing academic texts and how to correct them
Self-taught online course
Plant 2030 Academy
2 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.plant2030-academy.de/online-learning/online-courses/social-media-science
Robert Kötter
TwentyOne Skills
Live course via Zoom
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- The structure of a TED-talk
- Body language, voice and breathing
- Presentations with and beyond Powerpoint
- Convince, inspire and hold attention
- Speaking freely
- Dealing with difficult questions and stage fright
- Dealing with a heterogeneous audience
Kathrin Keune
artbased solutions
In-person or live via Zoom two-day course
3 Credit Points
Course content:
- Theoretical and practical understanding of leadership beyond the gender discussion
- Different leadership models and the discovery of owns own personal style (artsbased
process) - taking into consideration diversity aspects - Roles and responsibilities of a leader
- Leading communication on all levels: Initiating, supervising, mentoring, criticising,
motivating - Conflict management
- Body Language as a leadership tool
Self-taught online course
Plant 2030 Academy
2 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.plant2030-academy.de/online-learning/online-courses/german-science-system
Antje Rach
Worte & Wandel
Live course via Zoom
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- Find your own life balance
- Analyzing personal values
- Learning how to set goals and priorities for your career and life planning
- Setting boundaries in professional and private life
- Time management techniques
- Techiques to deal with stress, its origin, how to prevent and cope with it
Simone Dorenburg
Live course via Zoom
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- How to speak more persuasively, confidently, and effortlessly
- How to hold the attention of your audience during a talk
- Body language
- Voice and articulation
- Vocal volume, tone and pitch
- Breathing techniques
- Speaking presently, calmly and lively
Rebbeca Winkels
Wissenschaft im Dialog
Live course via Zoom
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- Functionality of Twitter as a social media channel
- Usage of Twitter in science communication
- Development of own communication strategy
Ingo Knopf
NaWik
In-person two-day course
3 Credit Points
Course content:
- Basics of communication
- Fundamental rules of image design and visual storytelling
- Overview and selection of technical equipment
- Practical exercises on shooting video with a smart phone / camera
- Editing and scoring
- Delve into and understand key skills in video production
Elisabeth Werner
punktweiss
Live course via Zoom
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- Finding and visualizing your own core message
- Basics of visual design, design principles
- Styles and applications of scientific illustrations
- Participants are brought to a comparable level of knowledge
- Acquire the learning material at your own pace
Research-oriented and Technical Courses
Hugo Storm
University of Bonn
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://github.com/hstorm/LASSO_model_selection_lecture
Andreas Meyer, Gabriel Schaaf, et al.
University of Bonn
3 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16aGKjRJ4CDlE6ZHH_8L_k1nGxwvNjsKL?usp=sharing
Marija Popović
University of Bonn
3 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc1eN74aP8bD8-eDYE0Ojzp6Z9UFfmgpa
Winter term 2023/24
Lucia Vedder & Sophie Boße
University of Bonn, FAIRAgro & ZB Med
2 Credit Points
Course content:
- Pilot training on Research Data Management for all-qualification-level researchers of PhenoRob
- First part: theoretical approach, more generic input on RDM
- Second part: practical approach, more detailed input on PhenoRoam. Participants are encouraged to bring their own data to do more practical work.
Organization: First part of the course takes place online, the second part in-person.
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://fairagro.net/index.php/de/informieren/veranstaltungen-2/221-save-the-date-naechstes-fairagro-rdm-training-am-15-und-18-januar-2024
Winter Term 2023/24
In-person module
Jens Behley
Lecturer at Stachniss Lab
University of Bonn
Course content:
- In this course, you will discuss and introduce different ways of publishing code, but you will also be provided some practical examples on how to publish code in an optimal way
- The course has a workshop format, with an intensive workload. It will take place in two 45-minute slots.
- There will be no specific software tools introduced, but a handout which will function as an overview that can be used for different code publishing scenarios
Andrew French, Tony Pridmore, et al.
School of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham
2 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/image-analysis
Christian Bauckhage
University of Bonn, CS and Fraunhofer IAIS
4 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.b-it-center.de/students/teaching-material/p3ml
Thomas Heckelei, Hugo Storm & Kathy Baylis
University of Bonn & UC Santa Barbara
3 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://github.com/heckelei/PromotionskollegModule6800_2020
Summer Term 2022
Winter Term 2023/2024
Uwe Rascher, Ribana Roscher, Onno Muller & Lasse Klingbeil
Forschungszentrum Jülich & University of Bonn
In-person project module
12 Credit Points
Course content:
- Small groups of students plan, carry out and present small projects in the context of PhenoRob field experiments and data.
- In the course you will develop your research question, prepare a measurement plan for obtaining field data and or analyzing (existing) field data, obtain your data and analyze these, discuss and present your results.
Prerequisites: Background in agriculture OR Background in Geodesy OR Background in Computer Science OR Similar
Organization: 2 in 1 Modules, carried out together with students from MSc Crop Science.
Cyrill Stachniss & Nived Chebrolu
University of Bonn & University of Oxford
6 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.ipb.uni-bonn.de/online-training-robotics/
Ignacio Vizzo & Cyrill Stachniss
University of Bonn
6 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.ipb.uni-bonn.de/cpp-course-2020/
Gabriele Cavallaro
Forschungszentrum Jülich
4 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.gabriele-cavallaro.com/teaching/parallel-and-scalable-machine-learning-for-remote-sensing-big-data
Self-taught online course
IPPN in cooperation with EMPHASIS and the EPPN2020
2 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.plant-phenotyping.org/Phenomics_Webinar
Cyrill Stachniss
University of Bonn
6 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.ipb.uni-bonn.de/online-training-pcv/
Every Winter Term, beginning 2023/2024
Christian Bauckhage
University of Bonn, CS and Fraunhofer IAIS
In-person project module
6 Credit Points
Course content:
- Fundamental machine learning models for classification and clustering, model training via minimization of loss functions, fundamental optimization algorithms, model regularization, kernel methods for supervised and unsupervised learning, probabilistic modeling and inference, dimensionality reduction and latent factor models, the basic theory behind neural networks and neural network training
- This course is intended to lay the foundation for more advanced courses on modern deep learning and reinforcement learning
Prerequisites: Linear algebra, statistics, probability theory, calculus, python programming
Winter Term 2022/2023
Sabine Seidel & Daniel Wallach
University of Bonn
In-person module
6 Credit Points
Course content:
- The course focuses on the principles, tools and practice of working with crop models (and more generally system models).
- The course begins by teaching two basic tools; the R programming language, which will be used throughout the course, and statistical notions for system modeling.
- Also a simple crop model from the literature (appropriately named SIMPLE) is presented in detail and discussed. This illustrates the nature of dynamic system models, and is the basis for discussing some basic processes of plant growth and development. Importantly, the model includes effects of CO2 level.
- Three essential methods of working with dynamic models are considered in detail; uncertainty and sensitivity analysis, model calibration and model evaluation.
- Throughout the course, the SIMPLE model, programmed in R, will be used as an example and for exercises.
- The textbook is “Working with Dynamic Crop Models”, of which D. Wallach is first author.
Organization: 2 in 1 Modules, carried out together with students from MSc Crop Science.
Coen J. Ritsema, Michel Riksen & Jerry Maroulis
Soil Physics and Land Management Group at Wageningen University & Research
4 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.edx.org/course/sustainable-soil-management-soil-for-life
Christoph Holst
Technical University of Munich
3 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyAhVex0X1Q&list=PL1yg2aKW1HSNCjbIlIQZZuRYsk79FVhwv
Course language is German!
Pytrik Reidsma & Katrien Descheemaeker
Wageningen University
3 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.pe-rc.nl/postgraduate-courses/art-of-modelling
Christoph Holst
Technical University of Munich
2 Credit Points
Please find more information on the course content here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HZH06bZk5A&list=PL1yg2aKW1HSO0mGrh1WP8Jsn4LoQG-CyE
Summer Term 2023
Dirk Helmrich
Forschungszentrum Jülich
In-person or online module
3 Credit Points
Course content:
- This course gives an in-depth training to using Unreal Engine as a data generator – by gaining measurements from virtual worlds
- Using the ground truth data generated with a realistic rendering engine, projects gain more robust AI pipelines, insight into AI performance on quantifiable data, as well as measurements from virtual scenes with environmental conditions that can be manipulated
- At the end of the course, participants have setup their own pipeline with UE and a simple ML workflow in one of the leading supercomputing centres
Dirk Helmrich
Forschungszentrum Jülich
Live course via Zoom
3 Credit Points
Course content:
- This course gives an in-depth training on generating synthetic plant data for machine learning, calibration, and validation approaches
- We have a focussed overview of Unreal Engine for data generation as well as how to build virtual experiments
- The course will give an overview of synthetic plant data generation examples as well as a discussion on their uses and pitfalls
Please find more information here: https://indico3-jsc.fz-juelich.de/event/148/