Mentoring Workshop 2022

We welcome students and PhD candidates to join the mentoring workshop at ETAPS 2022! During this workshop, you will have a chance to connect to researchers and industry practitioners from many different backgrounds. Focus of the workshop is giving advice on topics like career planning and how to succeed as a researcher and member of the ETAPS community.

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Confirmed Speakers

Schedule

Saturday, April 2nd

19:00 Social dinner

We meet for an informal get-together and dinner at Schneider Brauhaus (Address: Tal 7, 80331 Munich), where participants will have the opportunity to get to know each other as well as the mentors and organizers in a relaxed setting. Please note that participants should pay for themselves.

Sunday, April 3rd

8:50 - 09:00 Welcome

9:00 - 10:00 Peter Müller (ETH Zurich)

You and Your PhD
Working toward a PhD is a unique experience, which is often rewarding, but can also be scary and intimidating at times. In this talk, I will present ten key messages for PhD students that can help to make the most out of this time. In particular, we will discuss goals to aim for, skills to work on, and how to structure the process.

10:00 - 10:30 Coffee break

10:30 - 11:30 Laura Kovács (Vienna University of Technology)

Enjoying Research at the Intersection of Math and Computer Science
I will reflect on challenges and benefits of conducting basic research in theoretical computer science, with its potential, mid-term applications in an industrial setting. I will provide my personal view on the DOs and DO NOT DOs when it comes to writing grant applications and planning an academic career, while being open to unexpected coincidences and managing potential conflicts.

11:30 - 12:30 Eva Darulova (Uppsala University)

Becoming a professor without planning to be one
Some people know from when they are little exactly what they want to do when they grow up - I wasn't one of them. And I certainly did not envision to be a professor/academic researcher until a few months before submitting my thesis. In this talk, I want to share some of the events and coincidences that made me become and enjoy being a professor after all, as well as some lessons that I wish I would have known earlier.

12:30 - 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 - 15:00 Martin Wirsing (LMU Munich)

University Professor - a Risky but Rewarding Career Objective?
The profession of a university professor is very rewarding. In hardly any other profession is there so much creative freedom. The German constitution guarantees professors the freedom of research and teaching. However, the career goal of "university professor" is also very competitive and risky. There are many more qualified applicants than open professorships. Typically, young academics have only temporary employment contracts, the total duration of which is limited to 12 years in Germany. After this time, it can be difficult to find a good job in industry. In this lecture I will briefly explain these aspects and present important criteria for achieving a permanent professorship. I will explain some of these criteria using my own career path as an example.

15:00 - 16:00 Erika Ábrahám (RWTH Aachen)

How my hobby turned into being my job
How many people do you know who are enthusiastic about their everyday work with which they earn their living? I belong to these people, and most of the scientists I know do so. Today, as a professor, I am happy that I have chosen an academic career, but I haven't been always that sure about it. In this talk I will share with you some milestones in my academic career, in the hope that it will be helpful for you to find the best career path to your happiness.

16:00 - 16:30 Coffee break

16:30 - 17:30 Martin Schäf (Amazon AWS)

What do Applied Scientists do?
There are many exciting opportunities to do research outside of universities. You can find research positions in pretty much any type of enterprise, like NGOs, non-profits, large corporations, or start-ups. The way you provide value to an enterprise and your career path as a researcher can be very different depending on the business model and customers. I will share my experience of working as an applied scientist over the past 10 years and talk about the different ways in which my research provides value to the company and its customers.

Participation

You register for the Mentoring Workshop by registering for “Satellite (Workshops) Sunday” at the ETAPS registration page here: https://etaps.org/2022/registration
Please indicate that you will attend this workshop. The event will be streamed over Zoom for virtual participants.
You may also want to register for the main conference.
A limited amount of student scholarship is available. More information here: https://etaps.org/2022/student-scholarships

Organization