Discover different ways to get and stay active in Bremen:
| Jogging trails |
| Hikes and Walks |
| Cycling |
| Excursions in Bremen and in the region |
| Swimming pools (indoor and outdoor) |
| Swimming lakes (natural lakes) |
| Sports clubs all over the city (German web page, but many people in the sports clubs speak English) |
| Sports activities offered by the University |
Researchers often feel a lot of stress and pressure. They are expected to produce data and publish results in a relatively short amount of time while, in many cases, not knowing what the future will hold for them. In addition, international colleagues often struggle with the new (research) culture and many of them are not used to the fact that they can (or should) take the initiative in talking to their supervisors or group leaders.
It has proven to be very helpful to show some interest in the people we work with, especially those whom we supervise. We would like to encourage you to meet regularly in your groups and have an open ear for your colleagues. Being pro-active and initiating such conversations will help to make people feel they are a valuable member of the MARUM researcher community.
Saying thank you every now and then also helps to maintain a positive communication culture.
Ideally, conversations should be driven by the motivation to make sure that every researcher who leaves MARUM, will do so with a positive impression :-)
Find some tips and strategies to keep up a positive communication culture:
| Annual Meetings at the University of Bremen |
| Positive Communication at Work - working well resources provided by the Mental health Foundation of New Zealand |
| for doctoral students: Preparing, leading and recording thesis committee meetings |
When we experience stress and pressure for more than a few weeks, this may have an impact on our mental and physical health.
The German health care system offers a variety of support and treatment options for people suffering from mental health conditions. This offer is open to all persons employed at the University of Bremen via the statutory health insurance. (The psychological counseling service at the University is not designed to replace this system (nor is it staffed to do so). This serves as a first point of contact in acute situations.)
Below you will find some resources and support structures that may help you when you are in a difficult situation.
| Self-help guides on different mental health issues provided by the University of Birmingham, UK |
| Self-help apps - a list provided by the National Health Service of the UK (NHS) |
| The Mental Health Foundation in the UK provides all kind of information on how to maintain your mental health, how to prevent severe problems and how to look after yourself |
| (Crisis) Support - Where to turn to when you are encountering problems |
This guide summarizes information to simplify the path to help. It can be particularly helpful to employees with an international background who want help in a language other than German.
As a starting point, we recommend the information brochure "Paths to Psychotherapy" which is available at the following link:
https://www.bptk.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2019-09_bptk_patientenbroschuere_englisch_web-1.pdf
Even though the document seems very extensive at first glance, it is very accessible due to its good structure. Similar information can also be found on the following website:
https://www.informedhealth.org/a-guide-to-psychotherapy-in-germany-where-can-i-find-help.html
It is crucial for a successful treatment that you choose the psychotherapist yourself. For the search the data base psych-info.de is suitable, which is available however only in German – at the same time however the option offers multilingual offers to find. With this in mind, here is a brief introduction to its use:
Once a psychotherapist has been found, it is advisable to send a request by email (in the language in which the consultation is to take place). It is recommended to write this request as personally as possible and to state all the reasons for the desired treatment as concretely as possible. Already this step is subject to the legally required confidentiality, so you do not have to worry unnecessarily when writing the messages. The reason for recommending contact by meaningful email is that most psychotherapists receive more inquiries than they can handle. Therefore, they often choose the personal and openly formulated requests.