Program

Our Graduate Program provides an excellent support and scientific education of the Ph.D. and M.D. students and consists of several different elements:

• Thesis Advisory Commitee
  Every student, who starts the thesis research, has a thesis advisory committee consisting of the corresponding principle investigator and two additional scientists from the institute, including at least one who has a research focus different from the Ph.D. or M.D. student. The committee, which meets one to two times per year, provides additional guidance for the graduate students and ensures that the thesis is finished within a maximum of three to four years (Ph.D.).
• Weekly Journal Club
  In our Journal Club, which is held every week as a part of the lab seminar, one student presents an important up-to-date paper out of his research field and supervises the discussion afterwards.
• Monthly Ph.D. and M.D. Meeting
  The graduate students have a monthly meeting where they broaden their scientific horizon by discussing their own projects as well as important developments in the field of neurodegeneration research and other fields. In addition, in this meeting all matters concerning the Graduate Program can be discussed.
• Annual Weekend Retreat
  The graduate students organize an annual weekend retreat. Here every student presents a progress report. Besides the discussion of the scientific data, this meeting provides the opportunity for an exchange of technologies and ideas. Importantly, the meeting is also a great way to better get to know each other and spend time hiking in the mountains or swimming in the lakes near the Bavarian Alps.
• Organisation of Guest Speaker Seminars
  Up to four times every year, the Ph.D. and M.D. students organize a seminar held by a guest speaker from a lab in Germany or another European country.
• Graduate Schools
  Further support for the graduate students comes from the close interactions between our institute and three graduate schools in the Munich area - the International Max-Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Molecular and Life Sciences, and the Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (GSN). All two graduate schools organize lecture series and courses on different topics in the life sciences that are open to the Ph.D. students in our institute.