Junior Retreat

News
17 Dicembre 2021
The first Junior Retreat was organised in October 2021 in the Congress Hotel Seepark in Thun. It was the occasion for most of our PhD students and Postdocs to meet physically for the first time. This was a successful event organised by their peers. All researchers are looking forward next year!
Discussions among researchers in the hotel garden
Junior Retreat at the Congress Hotel Seepark in Thun

Due to the current pandemic situation, our Annual Retreat in June 2021 had to mostly take place in a virtual setting. What a shame for all our junior researchers as they could not meet their fellow researchers! It was therefore decided to host a Junior Retreat in person this time. 

The aim for this retreat was to bring together our Ph.D. students and postdocs in a less formal setting in order to foster interactions among them, fruitful discussions and potential new collaborations. The Retreat was organised by some of their peers, namely Varsha Behrunani, Wouter Jongeneel, Milos Katanic and Lesia Mitridati. 

Organising committee
Wouter Jongeneel, Varsha Behrunani, Milos Katanic, Lesia Mitridati

This two-day event started in the morning with icebreaking games, such as a paper-ball battle, for the researchers to get to know each other better. The first afternoon started with research speed dating, where each participant had to explain their research, orally and then through drawings. 

Research speed dating session
Research speed dating session

A panel discussion closed the afternoon session. Roy Smith, Gabriela Hug, Andrew Bollinger and Frauke Oldewurtel shared their career paths, provided tips and answered any question from the audience. 

Panel discussion
Panel discussion on career paths

The evening was a great occasion for researchers to get to know each other better on a more personal level. A cocktail class was provided, a bowling tournament and some more fun activities were a perfect occasion to mingle. 

Evening mingling activities
The evening was full of cocktails thanks to a course, and more practical fun with the bowling alley and table football.

On the second day, Pascal Grieder, CEO of Salt, joined us and shared his career paths and provide a few tips on soft skills. To make sure the discussion went both ways, he brought some chocolates, which he gave to the first three participants asking him a question. 

Pascal Grieder
Pascal Grieder, CEO of Salt

The rest of the morning was dedicated to some more team-building activities. Some went biking, other hiking, another group visited Thun. We gathered again in the afternoon for some non-research topics where we could exchange on the Better Science initiative and get some tips on well-being. 

And of course, coffee breaks and meals were perfect occasions to continue mingling!

Meal and coffee breaks
More mingling taking place during meals and coffee breaks

This retreat was a great success and we look forward to next year! Thank you again to all participants and to the organising committee.