Acquiring a set of transferable skills is important for the success of a graduate student in a competitive research environment. As time and project management as well as scientific writing are essential for a well-crafted academic career, workshops covering these two topics are mandatory. Transferable skill offers will be tailored to individual needs and include workshops on personal development such as “Communication in Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Teams”, “Developing Productive Working Relationships”, “Speaking with Confidence and Impact”, and “Skills for Project Leaders”. Workshops specifically organized by the RTG 2046 are supplemented by courses available through the Dahlem Research School (DRS) and the Humboldt Graduate School (HGS). Both DRS and HGS offer a variety of transferable skill courses to advance the professional development of doctoral researchers.

Public engagement has become increasingly important for aspiring scientists. The annual Science-Ethics-Politics program of the ZIBI GS was established in 2008 to educate junior researchers on the growing public and political interest in the life sciences, and aid them in defining and practicing a responsible role within society in the 21^st century. To practice successful public outreach, a workshop on science communication and how to effectively communicate research findings to the general public will be developed

Those specific skills workshops are complemented by career workshops that enable the doctoral researchers to make informed strategic choices on how best to shape and steer their career path, i.e. “Career Orientation” and “Career Mentoring and Management”.