Curriculum

The Graduate School goes beyond current models of doctoral training by providing a well-scheduled supervision and training programme in an excellent research environment. The clearly structured curriculum aims at supporting the students in finnishing their PhD project within a defined duration of three years.
If you have questions about the GLOMAR curriculum, please contact the scientific coordinator.

A printable version of the GLOMAR curriculum can be found in the documents section.

The research work is the core of the Graduate School’s curriculum and is carried out
in close linkage to ongoing research projects conducted in an international and interdisciplinary context.

PhD students are expected to participate in a total number of 25 Course days, split up into 20 days of introductory and expert courses and 5 days of soft skill courses.
(Please note that courses that cover less than 5 hours are counted as half a course day.)

Mandatory Courses:

• GLOMAR Introductory Course to Natural Sciences for Social Scientists (mandatory for social scientists)
• GLOMAR Introductory Course to Social Sciences in the Marine Realm (mandatory for natural scientists)
• An introduction to the Data Library PANGAEA & to the access to GeoB material (mandatory for natural scientists)

Recommended Courses:

• Presentation Skills
• Scientific Writing
• Marine Introductory Courses I + II (recommended for natural scientists)

Link to the Course Programme

Presenting scientific results to the scientific community is an important part of scientific work. PhD students should continuously present the progress of their research work at various levels within the Graduate School and at external scientific meetings (preferably international).

 Mandatory Presentations:

• New PhD students are expected to present their PhD project during a monthly seminar of their respective research area.
• In addition, PhD students are expected to give one presentation (oral or poster) per year at either the Bremen PhD Days in Marine Sciences or at the Young Scientist Excellence Cluster Conference on Marine and Climate Research.

Thesis committees are the major support tool for the PhD students which they should use as extensively as possible. Within the first 4 weeks after acceptance to the Graduate School, GLOMAR PhD students are expected to announce the members of their thesis committee and arrange for a first meeting. In the following, the PhD students shall invite their thesis committee for a meeting every 6 months, or more frequently if needed. During the meeting, the PhD student will report about the status of their PhD project and the schedule for the coming 6 months and discuss the project as well as the research training with the committee members.

The "General Agenda for GLOMAR Thesis Committee Meetings" (see Documents) gives an overview about the particular topics that should be addressed during these meetings.

PhD students are expected to write the minutes of every thesis committee meeting (signed by the student and the supervisor) and send it to the GLOMAR scientific coordinator and to the members of the thesis committee within 2 weeks after the meeting.

Mobility and networking on an international level are an important part of a career in science. GLOMAR encourages and supports its PhD students to go for a research stay or internship at another institution, preferably abroad.

PhD students gain benefit from having access to special instrumentation, equipment and/or competence provided to them by the host institution and get valuable insights into different research cultures. In many cases, joint publications have resulted from these research stays.
Most prominently, PhD students begin to develop their own network of colleagues which will help them to plan and follow their future career.

As part of the GLOMAR curriculum, PhD students are expected to work at another institution for an average duration of 3 months (at least 2 months).

Link to reports about past experiences of internships