Dear EuXFEL PhD student,
it is with great pleasure that I am writing these welcome words to “your” webpages. With time, I expect these pages to become an important hub for information transfer for many of you.
The creation of the PhD Student webpages is a very important milestone in the genesis of our PhD program. This program at EuXFEL started several years ago, but it was only with the beginning of operation of the instruments that it really took off. In September 2019 you were only 19 students and today EuXFEL is approaching the number of 50 approved PhD student contracts! Such a steep increase in a short period of time is a real challenge for us as a facility but at the same time a great step towards the development of a strong in-house R&D program, the foundation upon which all successful user facilities grow and flourish.
We want to make sure that you have the best possible learning and development experience while you are here. In these pages, you will find adverts for activities and events, scientific and soft-skill courses, XFEL-specific training opportunities, and much more! All with the perspective to allow you to grow, because we want your EuXFEL years to serve as the best possible launching pad for your future scientific careers.
And these webpages will certainly help you in all stages of your EuXFEL adventure. They will help the newcomers integrate into the PhD Student community, by signing up for social events or participating in various courses together. They will provide a forum, to those of you well into your PhD project, for posting your first results thereby stimulating scientific exchange with other students. Finally, those of you approaching the end of your contract can get a glimpse into what awaits you “out there” by visiting our Alumni webpage. You will also find a page with links to future job opportunities. And by the way, you can count on us, supervisors and Management, to support you in your search for your next placement.
I close this message wishing you, on behalf of the whole Management Board, the most enriching and rewarding experience at the EuXFEL. The friendships that you will form and the connections you will make with colleagues and users will become the seeds of your future professional network wherever on this planet you end up in the next phases of your career! Moreover, the experience you students share with each other within the PhD Student Program will, without any doubt, contribute to the establishment of a long-term identification with EuXFEL and we are almost certain that you will come back one day, maybe as a user? an instrument scientist? a director? Who knows! In the meantime, we wish you the very best for a successful PhD and are always happy to welcome you “home” again!
Sakura
Beeing a full-scale X-ray research facility, EuXFEL naturally has much to offer to any interested student. We are actively trying to complement the technical and scientific incentives with other equally important aspects of student projects, such as reliable arrangements regarding student supervison, social events and networking.
Workshops & Courses
We are trying to organize regular workshops based on popular demand and current events. Examples of workshops are courses for programming (e.g. Python) with special focus on data processing or workshops teaching scientific writing. Attendance is voluntary.
There might be additional requirements from your local graduate school. Please check with your supervisor or graduate school student contact to check if there is credit system.
EuXFEL student's day
The EuXFEL students' day is a once-per-year event, in which students are given opportunity to present their research in front of the bigger scientific audience at EuXFEL. Whether you are asked to present a poster or give a talk will depend on the time your PhD programme has started.
Student Seminar
Once per month we meet. The student seminar can become a number of things: A forum for discussion, a safe space to test presentations, a place to ask. We use it to exchange knowlegde and stay up to date in other students projects. Tune in!
Buddy programme
The buddy programme is a pilot project to support new students at the EuXFEL facility. The goal is to offer help with common tasks which might be challening or confusing for starters and ease the buildup of a scientifc and social network.
Social events
Join in to social evening session with colleagues: including barbecue, board game evenings, sport activities or just going out.
If you are doing your PhD at EuXFEL, the PhD programme guidelines (see Resources below) govern some important aspects of your project, e.g.
New PhD positions open regularly as part of our PhD programme.
The European XFEL aims at recognizing outstanding contributions of young researchers in the early stages of their career to research at European XFEL.
