Career in Science Management

In almost all research organisations, there are now institutions that are involved in the recruitment, qualification and quality assurance of researchers and in this way contribute to personnel development. At universities, for example, graduate academies often take on this task and set up programmes for the university's academic staff. The focus here is on interdisciplinary and practice-related skills such as leadership competencies, which are usually only taught marginally during studies or the doctorate. In addition to organising workshops and events, the task profile also includes considerations on the strategic development of the research organ-isation and the conception of new learning formats. Other focal points include coaching, career counselling and mentoring. So it's a broad spectrum of activities, ranging from rather administrative to very practice-oriented work.

Foundations in Germany are set up by private individuals or organisations and serve primarily to pursue charitable goals. These include foundations that fund research projects or invite tenders for research projects. The day-to-day business often includes organising and running events, cultivating networks, but also advising on applications and the submission of applications themselves. Working for a foundation thus also opens up the opportunity to stay on top of things beyond one's studies or doctorate and to deal with current topics in research.

In many externally funded projects such as Collaborative Research Centres, Research Training Groups or Clusters of Excellence, there is usually a great need for coordination - whether because of workshops, events or conferences that are to be organised or because inspections by the third-party funding bodies are imminent. In addition to this need for coordination, science managers are usually involved in budget management, public relations work and publication processes.