"Perspektiven. Wege in die Wissenschaft"
Trainer
Antje Rach studied Communication and Media Studies (Dipl.) at the Technical University of Ilmenau. After working in England and Russia, she spent around 9 years at the weekly newspaper Die Zeit. Here she was responsible for marketing communications, including the CHE university ranking and the student magazine ZEIT CAMPUS.
In 2014, she founded her consulting agency Worte & Wandel. As a trainer and systemic coach, she has since been advising academics and business on career development, diversity, time and self-management, confident behaviour and reconciling family and academic appointments. Antje Rach works with Graduate Academies and scientific institutions throughout Germany and has accompanied numerous doctoral candidates and postdocs on their way in coaching sessions, mentoring programmes and workshops.
"Perspektiven. Wege in die Wissenschaft"
Dear doctoral candidates, postdocs and those interested in mentoring,
The new programme "Perspektiven. Wege in die Wissenschaft" explicitly focuses on academics with a non-academic family background. This is important because only 27% of primary school pupils from a non-academic household go on to study - compared to 79% of academic children. As a result, the proportion of first-time graduates at German universities is only 48%, although non-academic children make up 71% of the school population. So we are still a long way from equal opportunities. However, it is not enough to simply improve the starting conditions for first-time graduates - we must take into account the special needs of these students throughout their studies and careers and provide support. I myself was the first person in my family to go to university. My family always motivated me and supported my wish, but they could not draw on their own experience. No one was familiar with the structures of a university, university life or the important networks.
Anyone who comes from an academic family benefits from a direct line to people who are familiar with the customs of academia. Where these role models are lacking in the family environment, mentors are needed as guides and confidants. I have been lucky enough to be supported by such mentors throughout my career. I am therefore delighted that my colleagues at the Graduate Academy are now expanding and continuing the Helene Lange Mentoring Program with a focus on academics with a non-academic family background and open to all genders. "Open to new paths" - this is the motto of our university, which has been committed to enabling non-traditional target groups to access higher education since its foundation. With the "Perspectives" programme, we are now paving the way for doctoral candidates and "freshly graduated" first-time academics at a crucial career stage.
I wish all mentees and mentors an enriching time together!
Best regards
Prof. Dr. Ralph Bruder
President of Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg
The new mentoring programme „Perspektiven” is an offer for advanced doctoral candidates and early postdocs of all genders who are pursuing their career goal within science. The programme is aimed at doctoral candidates and postdocs of the University of Oldenburg and cooperating universities (e.g. University of Bremen) with a non-academic family background.
The nexus of social background and educational inequality in the German higher education system has been an increasingly discussed topic for several years and is increasingly being taken as an opportunity by graduate institutions to offer support and qualification programs to promote scientists in early career phases who are the first in their family to pursue an academic career.
Over the course of the one-year programme, mentors from Academia support their mentee with questions about decision-making and career orientation. The mentoring programme also includes a supporting program including a kick-off and final workshop. In addition, workshops, discussion evenings or lectures, which are organized according to the mentees' wishes, offer the opportunity to acquire additional interdisciplinary knowledge and to network with each other.
The programme is aimed at doctoral candidates in the final phase of their dissertation and early postdocs who completed their dissertation no more than three years ago. The programme is held in German. However, the one-to-one mentoring can take place in other languages. People who locate themselves outside the gender binary system are explicitly addressed. Together with the trainer who accompanies the programme, we want to create a "safer space" for all genders.
Schedule and contents
Schedule for the mentoring line "Perspectives. Pathways into Science" 2025/26 (Programme in Germa
| Date | Event date | Participants |
|---|---|---|
| 18.09.2025 | "Perspectives" kick-off event, Schlaues Haus Oldenburg (also the closing event of the "Progessio" mentoring line) | Mentees "Perspectives" and Progressio Mentors "Progressio" Trainers Vice President for Academic Career Paths, Equal Opportunities and International Affairs Coordinators |
| 06.10./07.10.2025 | Kick-off workshop "Perspectives", Schlaues Haus Oldenburg | Mentees Antje Rach (trainer) Dr. Sandra Wienand (coordinator) |
| t.b.a. | Group coaching offer for mentors | Mentors Antje Rach |
| 03.11.2025 | Workshop: Was hat meine wissenschaftliche Karriere mit meiner Herkunft zu tun? (Online) | Mentees Dr. Ann-Kristin Kolwes (trainer) |
| 13.04./14.04.2026 | Interim balance workshop + individual coaching for mentees | Mentees Antje Rach |
| 16.09.2026 | Final workshop + coaching sessions | Mentees Antje Rach |
| 17.09.2026 | Closing event | Mentees Mentors Vice President for Academic Career Pathways, Equal Opportunities and International Affairs Dr. Sandra Wienand Dr. Susanne Elpers Antje Rach |
Selection procedure and Application form
The two-stage process includes the application via application form and an introductory interview lasting approximately 10 minutes. Application deadline is 30 June, 2025.
Application Form
Data protection information (in German only)
Language and costs
The mentoring programme "Perspektiven. Wege in die Wissenschaft" is offered in German, which applies in particular to the kick-off, mid-term and final workshops. The individual mentoring meetings can be held in other languages by arrangement with the mentor.
Participation in mentoring is free of charge.