(Crisis) Support for PhD students

Where to turn to when I'm encountering problems?

If communicating with your supervisor/mentor seems to be difficult, the next address to turn to would be your thesis committee. Invite them for a meeting and talk about the challenges you are facing. It is recommendable to prepare the meeting carefully to make sure you don’t forget any aspects that are important to you (see ‘helpful hints’ below). You can also approach the members of your committee individually in between the meetings.

Like all other university staff, PhD students are (or should be) invited for an annual meeting with their supervisor or group leader. These meetings can be used to discuss your project and further career but you can also use it to talk about potential challenges. If your supervisor forgets to invite you regularly, it is perfectly all right to remind her/him.
The English translation of the annual meetings is annual performance reviews. This term is rather misleading, the meetings are not meant to focus on your performance! See annual meetings

Irrespective of whether you are facing problems or not, it is always a good idea to communicate and exchange with fellow PhD students. You will soon find out that they are facing challenges that are very similar to yours! You can meet other PhD students for example in courses, in GLOMAR research seminars, at the annual PhD Days or at the monthly PhD get-together. The PhD representatives also welcome you to contact them with any kind of questions you might have.

In addition, or if communication with your thesis committee is difficult, you can contact the manager of the MARUM Early Career Researcher Support Programme (link) or the graduate dean of the graduate school GLOMAR.

If you have to deal with a matter where you have the impression that the rules of good scientific practice might be disregarded or if you experience conflicts regarding your supervision that could not be settled otherwise, you can contact the MARUM Ombudsperson. She / he is a member of a different institute to allow for independence.

In case you feel your problem is related to a gender bias, family-related challenges or unequal treatment, you are also very welcome to contact the MARUM women’s representatives (equal opportunity commissioners).

The University of Bremen offers a Social Counselling Service that provides qualified advice from a psychologist for those who have problems at work, in their private life or with health-related issues. Here you can also get advice on how to find a therapist in Bremen.

The Studierendenwerk Bremen offers psychological counselling for students at the University of Bremen including PhD students.

People who are suf­fer­ing an ad­dic­tion or want to pre­ven­t an ad­dic­tion can contact the Arbeitsstelle Suchtprävention (counselling in German only; if you need counselling in English, you can turn to the Social Counselling Service)