Happiness AHOY-Strengthened and healthy through the doctoral thesis

 The Berlin University Alliance (BUA) is an alliance of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Together, they are pursuing the goal of creating and shaping an integrated research space in Berlin. This alliance aims to establish Berlin as a leading international science location. All workshops and events offered by the Graduate Studies Support Program are funded by the BUA and therefore free of charge.   

+++++++++  Registration for the Workshop in Person: April 2/3,2025 over the website from the TU: https://programm.zewk.tu-berlin.de/de/events/01926be9-407d-7dc9-b0a7-41d...  +++++++++ 

Participation

Doctoral candidates (all disciplines) within the Berlin University Alliance.

Objectives

Do you have the feeling of being constantly tense, sometimes unable to cope with problems and no longer experiencing any fun in your daily work? A doctorate means more than just writing the dissertation. The pressure to perform and the degree of personal responsibility are high. What can you do to experience the doctoral phase in a healthy, even joyful way?

This module has a fine repertoire of creative methods from Positive Psychology and Happiness Research, MBSR (Mindful Based Stress Reduction) and Resilience Coaching. It enables you to better deal with doctoral-related stress, strengthens your psychological resilience and supports you in dealing appropriately with the various challenges in the doctoral phase and in maintaining your mental health.

This workshop supports doctoral students in strengthening their resilience and thus their own inner stability. Together you will work on your personal productive mindset by strengthening your resources and developing helpful perspectives. Their own development potential is strengthened in order to master challenges more calmly and to achieve their own goals.

The core of the module is a two-day workshop (no overnight stay) in which you learn how to assess symptoms and effectively prevent the development of crises. A specially developed 3-week format with in-depth assignments following the exam is designed to guarantee that your insights from the exam are also implemented in your everyday doctoral work. A follow-up workshop at the end of the 3-week consolidation phase serves as a final reflection.

Content

• Identify and develop own energy sources and resources
• Setting up structure, creating rituals and establish good habits
• Mindset work: recognize and change destructive thinking patterns
• Setting work-life boundaries
• Mindfulness and self-compassion in difficult times, dealing with self-doubts
• Take action and successfully counter procrastination
• Social support: Using solidarity and networking
• Dealing with unsolvable problems

Methods

We would like to give you a look at your own resources, strengths and potentials in short impulse lectures, with creative and varied methods. In the shared exchange of experiences, further helpful hints for dealing with challenges in everyday university life will certainly come to light. The deepening phase of this training gives you the opportunity to independently try out further approaches in the long-term deepening phase.

Relaxation exercises and meditations, a weekly half-hour meeting (in the deepening phase), accompanying peer groups, deepening tasks and a closed room for the participants for (supervised and) joint exchange complete the offer.

Please Note

After the two-day workshop, it is important to actively work on the tasks in order to deepen what has been learned through reflection and exercises. The required weekly time commitment is about 1 hour. Experience shows that the tasks bring relaxation and pleasure, and you may voluntarily invest more time in them! Reflection takes place together in the subsequent Follow Up.