Our guests …
… name competencies that are unexpectedly important in their jobs.
Dr. Christian Dumpitak
Managing Director
Interdisciplinary Graduate and
Research Academy Düsseldorf,
iGRAD HHU
Christian Dumpitak has been the managing director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate and Research Academy (iGRAD) at HHU since 2009, where he established qualification programmes as well as career and conflict counselling services for researchers. Christian studied biology and received his PhD in physical biology in 2003. As a postdoc, he took on increasing responsibility in teaching and research management. In 2008, he switched to graduate training and is co-author of the competence development model for early career researchers and the competence toolbox of the German University Association of Advanced Graduate Training (UniWiND/GUAT).
Marcus Holzheimer
Managing Partner
MH3 Beratung/LearnCon GmbH
Marcus Holzheimer is managing partner at LearnCon GmbH (a company that offers learning consultancy and concepts such as blended and e-learning, flipped classroom etc. for international companies in all sectors). He also works as a consultant, trainer and keynote speaker with a focus on career management, leadership and sales. The combination of his expertise and his many years of experience as an executive in sales and service management in international companies is a guarantee for success. His clients describe him as accurate, empathetic and always with commitment and humour.
Dr. Sebastian Honnen
Toxicologist
Landesamt für Natur, Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz (LANUV NRW)
After completing his diploma studies in biology (developmental genetics), Sebastian Honnen earned his doctorate researching the genetics of ageing. He then took over a working group in the Department of Toxicology. Here he had the opportunity to pursue the topic of ageing as well as to work in the field of anti-tumour therapies and to develop alternatives to animal experiments. In parallel, he coordinated the NRW Master's programme in Toxicology and was responsible for many of the processes affecting the programme and the associated communication. He also pursued post-graduate training as a specialist toxicologist, which led to the opportunity to transfer to the NRW State Agency for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection (LANUV NRW) in January 2019. Since then, he has been working there as a toxicologist and, in addition to the risk assessment of chemicals in consumer products, also deals with physical noxae such as electromagnetic radiation (5G) and sound as well as infrasound.
Caroline Ketting
Coach/Trainer & Project manager
KettingCoaching
After studying natural sciences, Caroline Ketting found her passion in the fields of recruiting, human resources development, consulting and coaching. She would like to share her many years of international experience as a recruiter, career consultant and manager with you. After moving to Germany in 2012 and a family phase, she further developed her career in scientific research and as a freelancer. Here she accompanies scientists in career orientation (what can I do with my education/qualities?), career planning (when do I leave university?) and application.
Dr. Lucia Leitner
Medical Science Liaison
Amgen GmbH
Her biology studies at the University of Vienna, including a semester abroad in Illinois, awakened Lucia Leitner's scientific curiosity and desire to travel. That's why she then applied to the International Graduate School (IRTG 1902) at HHU to do research for her PhD in biology in Düsseldorf and Virginia. After a short Postdoc phase at the University Hospital Düsseldorf, she was drawn back to her home country, where she accepted a position as Postdoc Laboratory Manager at the Medical University of Vienna. She has never regretted the subsequent move to the pharmaceutical industry as Medical Science Liaison at Amgen and enjoys working in this position, which is an interface for scientific exchange between physicians and industry.
Dr. Leonie Lüth
Product Manager
Miltenyi Biotec B.V. & Co. KG
Leonie Lüth studied biology at the University of Münster, specialising in microbiology and biotechnology. After obtaining her doctorate in the field of molecular phytopathology, she worked for several years as a postdoc at the Institute of Botany at the University of Cologne. She then moved to a medium-sized company and was involved in the development of products for molecular biology and later took on a role in product management at the same company. She then worked as a marketing manager for NGS-based cancer diagnostics. Since March 2021, she is product manager for cell analysis devices in regulated markets at Miltenyi Biotec.
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Malzkorn
Professor of Business Administration and Financial Services
Fachhochschule der Wirtschaft NRW
Wolfgang Malzkorn studied philosophy, mathematics and logic at the University of Bonn and earned his doctorate in philosophy. He then worked as a management consultant for risk management/banks at Oliver Wyman. He moved to KPMG WPG AG and then to McKinsey & Company, where he also worked as a risk management consultant. He currently teaches his extensive practical experience at the Fachhochschule der Wirtschaft NRW.
Silke Mekat
Trainer for compatibility of Job & family, stress, self & time management
Solution Coaching Silke Mekat
As a consultant, trainer and coach, Silke Mekat advises companies and their employees on the issues of work-life balance, employee retention and stress prevention. Before that, she worked for over 20 years in the book trade and in key account management at Pearson Education.
Since 2010, she has been a specialist therapist for integrated, solution-oriented psychology and a relaxation educator. She also works as a freelance consultant, trainer and coach in the areas of work-life balance, stress prevention, self-management and time management.
Dr. Ferdinand Pöhlmann
Associate Editor
Springer-Verlag/J.B. Metzler
Ferdinand Pöhlmann has been responsible for the cultural studies and linguistics programme of the J.B. Metzler publishing house as well as parts of the literary studies programme since 2020. He studied classical humanities - philosophy, protestant theology and musicology in Dresden and Tübingen and worked on his doctorate in Tübingen between 2010 and 2015. After an internship and traineeship, he worked as a project manager at J.B. Metzler for three years before taking on the position of editor in 2020.
Dr. Sven Rank
Scientific Officer
Digitalization
Forschungszentrum Jülich
With a master's degree and a doctorate in English studies, supplemented by a part-time MBA in science management, Dr Sven Rank has been working in science management since 2009. Up until 2014, he was employed at various universities in NRW, then at the RfII office in Göttingen. This followed three years in science policy. Since 2017 he is working as a scientific officer at the Forschungszentrum Jülich, where he is responsible for digitalisation and research data management, both on campus and beyond, for example in the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI).
Annika Schneider
Journalist
WILA Arbeitsmarkt
Annika Schneider advises humanities scholars and social scientists in seminars, workshops and lectures on career entry and strategic job search - on behalf of universities, employment agencies and study institutions. After studying journalism and political science in Eichstätt, Erlangen and Chile, she was the editorial director of "WILA Arbeitsmarkt" in Bonn for several years. Today, in addition to her work on application strategies for academics, she works as a freelance radio journalist for Deutschlandfunk and WDR.
Dr. Michael Staack
Scientific assistant
Goethe University Frankfurt
Michael Staack studied sociology, cultural anthropology and sports science at the universities of Hamburg, Budapest, Göttingen and Frankfurt/Main. He received his doctorate in social sciences at Goethe University Frankfurt a. M., where he has also been a research assistant in the "Social Sciences of Sports" department since 2012. Parallel to his academic work, he is also active as a self-employed trainer and works as a project collaborator in the model project "Full contact: Democracy and Martial Arts".
Heidi Störr
Career Consultant
Push Your Career – Bewerbungsberatung
Heidi Störr
Heidi Störr studied business administration and then worked for many years in the HR department of various companies, gaining her own experience in personnel selection and appointment. In 2012, she founded the recruitment consultancy "Push Your Career“ and supports STEM graduates during their job search. With her seminars, she offers concrete guidance on how to proceed during the application phase.
Bärbel Volkmann
HR Consultant Global Talent Acquisition
Bayer AG
Bärbel Volkmann studied biology at HHU before she moved on to work as an Office Manager and Project Manager in Recruiting at the Talent Leadership Supply GmbH. Subsequently, she joined Bayer as a Recruiting Specialist. As a Senior Professional within Talent Marketing Operations she has been responsible for recruiting the next generation talents at Bayer for more than 10 years.
Our moderators …
… name competencies that are unexpectedly important in their jobs.
Dr. Jana Deitersen
Scientific Staff Member
Wissenschaftliche Weiterbildung,
Interdisciplinary Graduate and
Research Academy Düsseldorf,
iGRAD HHU
Jana Deitersen has made a career at the Heinrich Heine University. After obtaining her bachelor's degree in biochemistry, a master's degree in biology and a doctorate in molecular medicine at HHU, she found her way into project management. After a brief consulting stint in the private sector, she joined the team at HHU's Interdisciplinary Graduate and Research Academy (iGRAD), where she now supports doctoral researchers and postdocs. In addition to her work at the iGRAD, she is working on an HHU project focusing on skills acquisition for employees. At Career Day 2021, she will talk to our panelists about their career experiences.
Dr. Debbie Radtke
Scientific Staff Member
Interdisciplinary Graduate and
Research Academy Düsseldorf,
iGRAD HHU
At the beginning of her biology studies, Debbie Radtke wanted to go to the jungle and save orangutans, but then she discovered her love for laboratory work and physiology. Without realising it, more and more organisational and coordinative tasks were added, including being a doctoral student representative and supervising various courses, so that after her doctorate she hung up her pipette and started work as a coordinator in the Graduate Academy iGRAD of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at HHU. Here she not only coordinates further training for young researchers, but also teaches as a highly qualified lecturer. As a trainer for university didactics, she also delivers various workshops inside and outside HHU, advises on career planning and teaches in the basic biology course - without orangutans, but in zoology.
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