Curriculum

General Information

Curriculum of doctoral researchers enrolled in the TÜ-BOS GRK “cGMP: From Bedside to Bench”. Doctoral researchers will receive intensive training in state-of-the-art methods and transferable skills as well as cGMP research. The workload of the regular training elements (blue and grey boxes) is limited to 80-100 hours per year. A central module of the curriculum is a three-month research stay in the partner lab abroad (green box). Doctoral students will be encouraged to present their work at international conferences (green box) and to organize a Summer School or International Conference (orange box). These events will bring together GRK fellows, PIs from Tübingen, co-mentors from partner labs abroad, external colleagues from academia and industry, and junior researchers enrolled in different local programs. Beige boxes indicate continuous supervision/mentoring and, at the end of the 3rd year, a time window for thesis and manuscript writing. Quality control is achieved by the appointment of thesis advisory committees, which meet annually (red arrowheads).

Research Visit Abroad

Research visits at our academic partner institutions in Boston (Tufts University, MGH and Harvard Medical School, Boston University), Chicago, London, or St. Louis are firmly embedded in the GRK curriculum. Co-mentors affiliated with these institutions work on cGMP-related topics and provide expertise and methods that complement those of the laboratories in Tübingen. Our doctoral researchers will perform three-month research visits at their respective partner labs abroad to deepen their knowledge of cGMP-related research. Prof. Dr. Michele Jacob (Tufts University) will coordinate the training program in Boston. Conducting practical research and participating in a structured training program in a top-level international research environment is considered a unique quality measure of the GRK curriculum.

Summer Schools / Conferences

A key goal of the GRK is to expand the scientific network of each individual fellow and to allow them to further explore known subjects or discover new interests beyond cGMP research. As part of these efforts fellows will organize a Summer School or International Conference to bring together our doctoral researchers with their supervisors and co-mentors from abroad as well as with other junior and senior scientists in the cGMP field and other research areas. These meetings will also embed internal retreats, workshops and talks held by the students and invited speakers. Moreover, these events provide opportunities for thesis advisory committees to meet and discuss the students' projects.

Thesis Advisory Committees

Quality control is achieved by the appointment of Thesis Advisory Committees (TACs), which usually consist of the primary supervisor, the co-mentor from abroad, and another PI of the GRK. TAC meetings are held annually, the first time approx. 6 months after the starting date of the student (download TAC forms). The TAC will critically evaluate the progress of the project and give advice for improvement; it will help in goal-setting and give constructive feedback regarding achieved goals as well as supervisor’s and student's expectations. The overall aim of the TAC meetings is to ensure completion of a high-quality doctoral thesis and publication in the standard funding period of three years.