IZN International Graduate ProgramStudent Speakers

Dear IZN PhD Students!

Welcome to the IZN doctoral program and to Heidelberg University if you are new in town!

As you might know, the IZN network was founded back in 2000, with the aim of enhancing communication and exchange among neuroscientists working in Heidelberg/Mannheim.

For a long time (too long!) IZN doctoral students have been quiet and only passively taking part in IZN initiatives and events, like symposia, retreats and lectures.

However, why not exploit all the possibilities that we are offered?

The IZN supports our ideas and gives us freedom, advice and partial financial support! So why not profit?

Networking is a very important component in the scientific field, thus the earliest we take the initiative, the sooner the future will be in our hands! IZN provides a unique possibility to us to network or initiate collaborations or even ensure a Post Doc position after your PhD!

Therefore during the IZN retreat in 2013 we agreed that it would be nice to organize social and scientific events ourselves under the wise guidance of our more experienced colleagues :)

The first suggestion was to invite some guest speakers (PIs, Postdocs) and have the possibility not only to listen to their talks, as we are doing now, but also to meet them and enrich our connections.

IZN offers a budget for inviting a Professor / Principal Investigator from academia or industry who is selected by the votes of IZN doctoral students to give a Neurobiology Lecture, so YOU have the chance to choose the speaker. S/he is your own guest and you will be able to spend some quiet time with her/him, i.e. coffee or lunch or even dinner, as well as a laboratory tour or a discussion of your own research. We will then invite the speaker and arrange her/his arrival.

Our budget is sufficient to invite and cover the expenses of 2-3 guest speakers per year. To determine who to invite, we create a survey at the beginning of the year and distribute it to the IZN student network. In this survey, you can add your guest and vote for your favorite speaker/s. We then invite the speakers having the most votes.

Thank you for your feedback!

Your PhD Students' representatives