Counselling and Coaching
Career Counselling for Early Career Researchers at UDE
Are you facing important decisions in your academic career? Are you looking for confidential and professional guidance on topics such as career planning, funding opportunities, or navigating challenges?
We offer free, individualised counselling and coaching for early career researchers – tailored to your personal situation and career, available depending on your needs in person, online, or by phone.
- Counselling with a broad perspective – confidential & impartial
- Expertise in the academic system & institutional knowledge about the UDE
- Sensitivity to mental health, diversity, work-life balance & research integrity
- Different formats – flexible and needs-oriented, in German and English
Your Questions – Our Knowledge
- Information on the academic system
- Career planning and perspectives within and beyond academia
- Advising on all aspects of doctoral studies, e.g., funding opportunities and types of doctoral programs
- Support with applications for third-party funding or scholarships
- Dealing with challenges and pressures such as uncertainty, stress, and discrimination
- Reflection on and development of transferable skills and qualifications, as well as individual profile building
- Support in expanding professional networks
- Gender & Diversity Consulting and career counseling for women
All advisors have completed the additional qualification as Mental Health First Aiders from the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim. This enables to identify and address mental health issues more quickly and to promote self-care. As first responders, we can provide competent information about relevant support and treatment services when needed.
Regardless of your career stage, you are welcome to reach out to any of the contacts listed below with your enquiry. The following profiles and thematic areas can help you identify the most appropriate person to contact regarding your specific needs. If you are unsure, feel free to send a general inquiry to the GC Plus team: gcplus@uni-due.de
Your Contact Persons
Simon Kresmann
☎ +49 201 183-2015
simon.kresmann@uni-due.de
Key Areas
- Formal admission requirements and conditions for doing a doctorate
- Financing, funding, scholarships
- Career paths and development, academic profiling
- International research experience and integration into the German academic system
- Tenure track procedures and evaluations for junior professors
About
Simon Kresmann has been leading the Graduate Center Plus since 2018. He also represents the University of Duisburg-Essen in the Research Academy – the cross-university platform for promoting early career researchers within the University Alliance Ruhr. Owing to his own academic background and many years of affiliation with UDE, he not only possesses in-depth institutional knowledge but also a thorough understanding of the German academic system.
After completing his teacher training, he worked in aquatic ecology at the University of Duisburg-Essen, RWTH Aachen, and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven, supported among others by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Scholarships and research funding also took him to Kalosca, Hungary (supported by the Pedagogical Exchange Service) and Bordeaux, France (supported by the COTE Cluster of Excellence). As a science manager at the Center for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU) at UDE, he coordinated several international DAAD-funded projects before assuming coordination of the NRW graduate school FUTURE WATER. In 2017, he joined the Science Support Center.
Viktoria Niebel
☎ +49 201-183-3054
viktoria.niebel@uni-due.de
Key Areas
- Career counselling for female early career researchers
- Tenure track mentoring for junior professors
- Authentic networking with a strategic mindset
- Decision-making on the path to a doctorate and in career development
- Identification of strengths and potentials for your own path
About
Viktoria Niebel is a social scientist and responsible for career counseling for female early career researchers as well as for promoting equal opportunities at the Graduate Center Plus. She also coordinates the tenure track mentoring program for junior professors.
Her experience in supporting the careers of female researchers is based on her previous role as Deputy Central Equal Opportunities Officer for academic staff at Ruhr University Bochum, as well as on her own academic background. This provides her with a deep understanding of the needs and challenges related to equal opportunity and diversity during academic qualification phases, which informs her counselling work.
As local project lead of the international Horizon 2020-funded gender equality project RESET – Redesigning Equality and Scientific Excellence, she contributed to shaping gender equality goals and strategies at universities across Europe and advised project partners on the strategic implementation of their gender equality plans and measures.
Valentina Vasilov
☎ +49 201-183-3176
valentina.vasilov@uni-due.de
Key Areas
- Career paths, development and competency profiles
- Decision-making in ambiguous situations and strengthening resilience
- Managing difficult relationships and conflict resolution
- Dealing with stress, change or crises
- Developing time, goal and self-management skills
About
Valentina Vasilov is a person-centered integrative coach (DACB, GwG, RTC, DGSv), supervisor (GwG, DGSv), and trainer in research integrity, career development, communication, and mental health. She has many years of professional experience in doctoral education and diversity management within the academic context. At the Graduate Center Plus, she offers counselling and individual as well as peer group coaching for early-career researchers and designs programs and trainings focused on the development of transferable skills.
Counselling or Coaching?
In counselling sessions, we provide you with information relevant to your individual planning – before, during, or after your doctoral phase. In addition, coaching creates a space for reflection, allowing you to explore personal challenges and questions with professional guidance. The focus lies in strengthening your own problem-solving abilities. Through a respectful and dialogue-oriented process, you gain clarity about your concerns and goals and develop solutions that are right for you.