Imposter Experiences in Academia - 4 March + 24 March 2026

Trainer: Taiya Mikisch
Date and Time: 4 March + 24 March 2026, 9:00-16:00 / 9:00-13:00
Target group: PhD students, Postdocs
Venue: 1st day onsite, follow up online
Content:
This course is designed for early-career researchers who experience self-doubt and imposter feelings in the academic context. Many researchers report attributing their achievements primarily to external factors such as luch or favorable circumstances, accompanied by the fear of being exposed as inadequate despite objective indicators of competence. These experiences can affect everyday work, well-being, and long-term career development, particularly in competitive and performance-oriented academic environments.

The course provides a research-informed framework for understanding imposter experiences in academia, addressing both individual mechanisms and structural factors. Participants are supported in reflecting on their own patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior and in developing constructive, evidence-based strategies for dealing with self-doubt, stress, and perceived failure.

The program consists of a one-day in-person workshop, followed by an online follow-up session several weeks later, which serves to consolidate learning, reflect on practical application, and deepen the integration of strategies into everyday academic life.

Please register by 6 February 2026
To receive information on course fees for external* participants, please email training@imb-mainz.de

Presentation Skills - 9+10 April 2026

Trainer: Alexander Britz
Date and Time: 9+10 April 2026 (9:00-17:00)
Target group: PhD students
Venue: IMB
Content:
During the workshop, the participants will gain essential skills to deliver impactful scientific presentations (for seminars, conferences, or a thesis defense). The emphasis will be on oral presentation skills.

The specific topics and learning objectives of the workshop are:
- Understand and apply fundamental laws of effective professional scientific communication, with a spotlight on oral presentation skills.
- Learn to create compelling narratives from scientific results using structured storytelling and pitching techniques.
- Acquire skills to use body language and voice effectively.
- Understand how to use technical aid and design appealing slides.
- Hands-on practice of short presentations in breakout sessions.
- Utilize structured feedback to refine your presentations.
Each participant will have to bring a 5-mins presentation or a poster for an active practice session.

Please register by 2 March 2026
To receive information on course fees for external* participants, please email training@imb-mainz.de

Biostatistics - Spring 2026

Trainer: Fridolin Kielisch in cooperation with IMB core facilities
Date & Time: 14 April - 19 May 2026, 9:15 - 10:45 (6 weekly units of 90 minutes each, always Tue)
Venue: hybrid (IMB + online)
Target group: 1st year PhD student + young researchers aiming at repetition
Content:
This module focuses on statistics as an important instrument of scientific work. Students will take a 'probabilistc point of view' on scientific experiments and familiarize themselfes with statistical tools like confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, ANOVA, etc. The course mainly uses the statistical computing framework R, but due to the general nature of the topics any statistical software can be used you are familiar with. 
The module consists of seven units. Between the sessions, the students will do small exercises at home. Tutors will be available for questions and answers.
Requirements: 
Participants must be familiar with a software allowing statistical analysis prior to the course. For beginners, we recommend and support a self-learning course in R.
https://www.bioinformatics.babraham.ac.uk/training.html#rintro 

Please register by 16 March 2026
This course is currently not open to external* participants. For more information, please email training@imb-mainz.de