Curriculum and Courses

The Ph.D. Medical Research covers several core areas and the graduate programs of research training groups. In order to offer Ph.D. candidates a broad course spectrum and in order to profit from potential synergies, all areas have come together and created a course catalogue.

All information on the courses (when, content, potential prerequisites, etc.) can be found on the respective pages of the programs, as well as by asking the individual coordinators.

Please note:

• Ph.D. candidates from a specific core area have precedent over other Ph.D. candidates where limited places are concerned.
• Only the respective coordinator of a given core area can decide on who receives a place in a course. Please always contact the coordinator in order to make sure there is space and/or if prerequisites are required.
• Any events or courses that are or were taken as part of another degree program and contributed toward achieving another academic degree cannot be counted toward the Ph.D. curriculum.

It is possible to collect ECTS in a variety of ways, which are not only limited to actual course participation. The given list shows how many ECTS are awarded for an activity, as well as if there is a maximum number of ECTS that can be awarded for activity (i.e. the supervision of Bachelor or Master students). The list is not complete, but does give a broad overview. If you have any other course types, please ask your respective coordinator if a certain activity can be awarded ECTS and counted towards your required points.

1 ECTS is equivalent to 2 full course or conference days plus the necessary preparation and follow-up, or 30 hours of required work time. A minimum of 0.5 ECTS must be submitted to be credited for an event. ECTS can only be credited in 0.5 increments.
Events that require less than 8 hours of attendance, such as half-day continuing education courses, may be combined with other courses to meet the minimum threshold requirement for 0.5 ECTS.  

ECTS for "methods" are accepted for:

• classes, courses or events where you learn a new technique that is required or useful for your project,
• seminar series
• journal clubs
• methods course (e.g. microscopy, FACS, sequencing, database management)
• wet lab courses
• animal courses
• external lab visits
• online methods courses
• establishing a new method in the lab
• invited talks or project presentations e.g. during the visit of another lab (not included are poster presentations or talks at conferences)

ECTS for "methods OR skills" are accepted for:

• supervising students
• writing or reviewing of papers
• teaching
• supervising a methods course
• programming courses

ECTS for "skills" are accepted for:

• classes, courses or events where you learn “soft skills” that would be useful to you no matter which career path you’ll chose for your future
• e.g. skills courses such as:
• scientific writing
• presentation skills
• business negotiation skills
• consulting training
• classes on the design of posters or talks
• scientific reading
• good scientific practice, etc.
• organizing a retreat or conference

ECTS for "conferences" are accepted for:

• conferences
• meetings
• symposia
• retreats
• poster presentation or talks at a conference or meeting
• includes online conferences

The following items cannot be part of your curriculum:

• lab meeting talks
• TAC-meeting talks
• progress reports to your TAC members
• German language classes

 

Activity	Type of verification	ECTS/ max ECTS	Time frame	Category
Methods
Seminar series, journal clubs (80% attendance, 1hour/week)	statement by supervisor	0.5	per semester	Methods
Seminar series, journal clubs (80% attendance, 2hour/week)	statement by supervisor	1.0	per semester	Methods
Method courses and lab course e.g. wet-lab training courses, programming courses (R, Python, etc.), data analysis training	certificate of participation	0.5*	per day (min. 8h)	Methods
Poster presentation, oral presentation, project presentation (i.e. invited talks) (excluding lab meeting talks and TAC-meeting talks and presentations at conferences)	statement by supervisor	0.5-1.0 (max 2 out of 30)	each, depending on workload	Methods
Animal course (FELASA)	certificate of participation	3.0	each	Methods
External lab visits	statement by supervisor	max. 3 out of 30	depending on length	Methods
Online Methods course (certified providers only**), e.g. programming, data analysis, software	certificate of participation	1.0	per 30 hours workload	Methods
Establishment of new methods in the lab	statement by supervisor	max. 3 out of 30	depending on workload	Methods
Methods or Skills
Teaching (courses, lectures, etc.)	statement by supervisor	max. 2 out of 30	depending on workload	Methods or Skills
Supervising students, paper writing, paper review	statement by supervisor	max. 2 out of 30	depending on workload	Methods or Skills
Supervising a Methods course	statement by supervisor	max. 2 out of 30	per day	Methods or Skills
Skills
Skills courses (soft skills e.g. presentation skills, scientific writing, voice training, marketing, networking etc.)	certificate of participation	0.5*	per day	Skills
Organizing a retreat or conference	statement by supervisor	max. 2 out of 30	depending on workload	Skills
Conferences
Conferences, Meetings, Symposia	certificate of participation	0.5*	per day	Conferences
Poster presentation/ oral presentation at retreats, conferences or meetings	certificate of participation	0.5 - 1.0	each, depending on workload	Conferences
Online conferences	certificate of participation	0.5	per day	Conferences

* plus potentially additional workload (preparation, review, studying for exams)

** certified providers:

• https://www.coursera.org/
• https://edx.org
• https://www.vhb.org/startseite
• https://www.labroots.com

Upon request, other providers may be taken into consideration.