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In: Careers, Corona, International, Students

„If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time.“ Edith Wharton This topic is quite a controversial and also philosophical one. Let´s be honest here: we can´t guide you to fundamental happiness. There´s no neat trick that works for everyone. If so it would be a more peaceful and relaxed world. What we want to do is make you think. Because even if you´re totally against everything we will write down here: thinking about it may bring you a step further to your version of happiness. So join us on this ride! While being happy might be the ultimate goalRead More →

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In: Careers, Corona, International, Students

We often talk about heart and lung health, etc. but we seldom talk about brain health which is undeniably central to all our health. The brain is like any other organ. During our Mental Health Awareness month we actually talk a lot about stress. Stress is often portrayed as having only relatively short lasting psychological impacts, but it also alters the biochemistry happening in your body and especially your brain and therefore actually having also long lasting physiological impacts. So, if you properly take care of it, you will reap the most fulfilling benefits. As the renounced neuroscientist Dr. Daniel Amen [10] said:  When yourRead More →

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In: Careers, International, Students

Dear all, it is time for the second newsletter on mental health among doctoral researchers and mental health in science in general. In case you missed the first one, catch up here. This time, we are talking about the statistics. What does the data show regarding mental health in academia and research? How is the Helmholtz Association doing on the topic of mental health, according to the 2019 survey? We wrap up with pointing to some common stressors: how to recognize them in others and ourselves; as well as how to help those who experience these stressors. Last, but not least, we invite you toRead More →

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In: Careers, International, Students

Dear all, October is officially a mental health awareness month. In order to raise awareness among the doctoral researchers, Helmholtz Juniors have prepared a series of informative letters to be sent out each Thursday in the course of October. However, since we – the team of representatives of the doctoral researchers at HZB – believe that this is a topic concerning everyone, we have decided to share some of this information with the whole HZB community. Take a moment, sit back, breathe and relax. We all know that doing a PhD can be really challenging, not only scientifically but also on the personal side. ThereRead More →

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In: Corona, Energymaterials

Tristan Petit is a “Freigeist” Fellow of the Volkswagen Foundation and heads a group on nanocarbon materials at HZB. In the interview with Sophie Spangenberger, he talks about the gradual normalization after the lockdown. This post is for now the last one about the corona period at HZB. How did you experience the confinement and what was the first thing you did when you arrived at the office? I started the lockdown with a move. So at first I was more stressed by the fear of not being able to move than by the corona virus. We spent the first few weeks confined surrounded byRead More →

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In: Corona, Neutrons

Since some weeks now, many colleagues have come back to the lab, others continue to work from home. These different working environments will continue to accompany us in the coming weeks. This week, Sophie Spangenberger met (online) with Michael Tovar from the X-ray lab at HZB in Wannsee. You are responsible for the X-ray laboratory in Wannsee. How did you handle the lockdown? Our lab operations are geared to the experiment and, of course, only work when we are there. The instruments run in 365-7-24 mode and may only go into standby mode once before Christmas. With the corona lockdown, we had to close theRead More →

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In: Corona

Many colleagues are currently working in their home offices, exchanging information by telephone or video conferencing. Nevertheless, we still lack the opportunity to meet other colleagues simply in the hallway or in the kitchen. That’s why we are shifting “hallway conversations” to the digital. Today we present Rutger Schlatmann, director of PVcomB at HZB. What are you working on ? At the moment I am managing two institutes at the same time: the PVcomB competence center and the Institute for Silicon Photovoltaics. I coordinate the new structuring in Kekuléstraße (laboratories, offices, implementations etc.). These tasks have not changed, however I have more administrative work thanRead More →

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In: Careers, Corona

Many colleagues are currently working in their home offices, exchanging information by telephone or video conferencing. Nevertheless, we still lack the opportunity to meet other colleagues simply in the hallway or in the kitchen. That’s why we are shifting “hallway conversations” to the digital. Today we introduce Anja Seehrich from the Personnel and Social Affairs Department. What are you working on right now? Like most of my colleagues from the HR department, I’m currently working in the home office. My tasks have remained the same: I take care of personnel matters, for example new hires or contract renewals. I am also the contact person forRead More →

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In: Corona

Many colleagues are currently working in their home offices, exchanging information by telephone or video conferencing. Nevertheless, we still lack the opportunity to meet other colleagues simply in the hallway or in the kitchen. That’s why we are shifting “hallway conversations” to the digital. Today we introduce Daniel Abou-Ras, who works in the Department of Structure and Dynamics of Energy Materials and coordinates the international research school HI-SCORE. Where are you working right now and how do you start your day? I am working at my desk at the moment, where I also run my home office from time to time during “normal” times. WhenRead More →

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In: Corona

Many colleagues are currently working in their home offices, exchanging information by telephone or video conferencing. Nevertheless, we still lack the opportunity to meet other colleagues simply in the hallway or in the kitchen. That’s why we are shifting “hallway conversations” to the digital. Today we introduce Astrid Brandt, who works in user coordination. How do you start the day? My day starts shortly before seven o’clock, because that’s when my cats want to be fed – so everything is the same as always. What are you working on at the moment? At the moment I’m finishing a contribution for the ‘Highlights of Physics’, whichRead More →