Attendees included about 20 postdoctoral researchers from the University of Vienna, the Central European University (CEU), the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, and the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien).
The day started bright and early with an intense round of scientific flash talks, giving people the chance to get to know each other and their scientific backgrounds. The rest of the day was spent with talks (full schedule below) giving insights into various aspects relevant to postdoc career development in focused sessions peppered with questions from the audience. Michael Hofer (Qualitätssicherung, Uni Vienna) spoke on the evaluation of candidates for tenure track positions. Eva Wysocki (FWF) gave an overview of the FWF funding programs most relevant for early career researchers, including the ESPRIT grant, the Erwin Schrödinger fellowship and the standalone projects. The afternoon closed with remarks by Marco Masia (Uni Vienna) on the entrepreneurship programmes of the University of Vienna and with an account by Christian Valuch (Kathrein Privatbank AG) of his transition from a postdoc position to data management in banking. Sadly, the last scheduled talk by Patrick Mineault had to be cancelled at short notice.
Overall, the day was characterized by high energy and curiosity, with an openness to new perspectives, and it ended with a wine tasting where new and old friends alike could talk, network, and exchange ideas.
Full schedule and more impressions here.
