Location
Konrad-Martin-Haus
Am Rechenberg 3-5
06628 Bad Kösen
Dates
20-22 May 2026
Credit points
1.0 CP
You will stay in a single room. As Bad Kösen is well accessible with public transport, we are going to travel by train. As always, all costs of accommodation and travel are taken over by the iDiv Graduate School. Please buy your tickets in advance by yourself and have it then reimbursed through either the iDiv Graduate School and all associated PhDs through your respective programme.
Programme
This year, the workshops at the PhD retreat focus on mindfulness both inward and outward: cultivating personal resilience and fostering productive collaboration with supervisors.
In Leadership and Conflict Management for PhDs, you will learn strategies for working constructively with supervisors, drawing on lateral leadership, strategic communication, and professional ‘managing up.’
The workshop The Resilient PhD: A Mindful Approach to Staying Mentally Healthy provides practical, evidence-based tools for mindfulness and stress management to help you build resilience and sustain mental balance beyond the pressures of everyday research.
Beyond the workshops, this retreat is about connection: meeting other yDiv doctoral researchers, sharing ideas, and simply enjoying time together. Step away from the screen, spark new inspiration, and return to your PhD with fresh energy!
This year’s retreat will be organised by Marius Munschek und Alexander Sternberg.
Wednesday, 20 May 2026
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 10:30 | Arrival Train from Leipzig at 9:06 am (arrival at 10:09 am), you need to change in Naumburg Train from Halle 9:23 am (arrival at 10:09 am) Train from Jena at 9:23 am (arrival at 9:49) |
| 11:00–11:30 | Welcome Moderated by Retreat organisation team |
| 11:30 – 12:30 | PhD Meeting Moderated by Zarah |
| 12:30–1:30 | Lunch |
| 1:30–4:00 | PhD Symposium Everyone is invited to give a short (max. 10 min) presentation. It is an open format. Topics typically include current or previous work or plans for future projects. Moderated by Marius & Alexander |
| 4:00–4:30 | Coffee break |
| 4:30–7:00 | Shared challenges (Optional) You may share your views about PhD related problems and challenges in small groups, ask for help, give advice and become a mentor or mentee. This can be about anything you want to talk about. Moderated by Marius & Alexander |
| 4:30–7:00 | Fun activities (Optional) Hiking, games, sigthseeing The nature around Bad Kösen is very beautiful, we can have a short hike to the hills nearby (BEWARE: there are many ticks in this area. Consider a vaccination (FSME), bring mosquito spray, long clothes and search for ticks) |
| 7:00 | Dinner (BBQ) |
Thursday, 21 May 2026
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 8:00 – 9:00 | Breakfast |
| 9:15 – 12:00 (including coffee break) | Workshop Life hacks, work hacks, knowledge sharing, favourite software, “I wish I knew that before my PhD” … Think of anything that could make the life of your peers a little bit better and share it with the group. Moderated by Marius & Alexander |
| 12:00 – 1:00 | Lunch |
| 1:00 – 4:00 | Two parallel Workshops: Leadership and Conflict management for PhDs with Andrea Perino To thrive in your PhD being a bright researcher is not enough. You will have to navigate relationships, lead without formal authority, and build the right support systems to thrive long-term. In this interactive workshop, you will learn how to work effectively with your supervisors through lateral leadership, strategic communication, and “managing up” in a healthy, professional way. You will develop practical tools for understanding communication styles, leading meetings, writing effective emails, and framing requests so you get the support you need. Beyond the supervisor relationship, the workshop focuses on building a strong professional and personal support network and learning peer-supervision methods to you can apply to solve challenges in a structured and collaborative way. The resilient PhD: A mindful approach to staying mentally healthy with Juliane Hug Doctoral research is intellectually stimulating, but it also comes with considerable psychological demands. PhD candidates often navigate high workloads, performance expectations, uncertainty, and the challenge of balancing professional and personal responsibilities. This interactive workshop offers practical and evidence-based tools for mindfulness and stress management. This workshop is designed to complement the retreat setting by offering participants practical tools to better understand stress and cultivate mindfulness in their daily academic lives. Through room for reflection and exchange, guided exercises, and light movement elements, participants will explore sustainable strategies to strengthen resilience and cultivate mental balance beyond the demands of everyday research life. |
| 4:00 – 4:30 | Coffee break |
| 4:30 – 7:00 | Free time, fun activities Hiking, sightseeing, relaxing |
| 7:00 | Dinner & camp fire & games |
Friday, 22 May 2026
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 8:00 – 9:00 | Breakfast and vacate rooms |
| 9:30 – 10:30 | Presentation by the workshop groups Moderated by Marius & Alexander |
| 10:30 – 12:00 | Feedback session Moderated by Graduate School |
| 12:00 – 1:00 | Lunch |
| After Lunch | Departure To Leipzig at 1:49 (arrival at 14:52), you need to change in Naumburg To Halle at 1:49 (arrival at 14:34) To Jena at 2:09 (arrival at 14:34) |
Lecturers
Andrea Perino received her PhD in conservation ecology from the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (magna cum laude) in 2019. Her research is published in high-impact disciplinary and interdisciplinary journals including Science and Conservation Letters and has been covered by a large range of broadcast media (e.g., BBC, WDR, Süddeutsche Zeitung, ARTE).
From 2019 to 2024, Andrea served as Science-Policy Coordinator of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) in Leipzig. In this capacity, she represented iDiv in global biodiversity policy processes such as the CBD’s negotiations towards the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework, developed and spear-headed an institution-wide science-policy strategy, advised national and federal state governments, planned and executed large high- level policy events, and supported scientists in presenting their research to both scientific and non-scientific audiences.
Since 2021 Andrea is certified as coach by the Coach Training Alliance (CTA) and since 2024 she is self-employed as trainer and coach, working with early-career researchers and professionals who work in intellectually challenging, high-impact, high-competition environments.
Juliane Hug is a psychologist and psychological psychotherapist with more than 7 years of experience in delivering mental health trainings in higher education and research settings. She is currently affiliated with Leipzig University, where she manages research projects in the field of e-mental health, while also being actively involved in academic work herself. This enables her to combine scientific expertise with a strong understanding of everyday challenges in academic institutions. Next to that, she is a psychotherapist at Leipzig University Hospital, psychiatric clinic.