For a successful career, it is important that students enhance their academic and extracurricular skills through soft skills courses. The courses, taught by experts from each field, will help to improve leadership, management and networking skills – a competitive advantage in the job market within or outside the academic world.

The education in

• scientific writing
• publishing
• scientific presentation

is of special importance during the doctorate and BIGS Neuroscience would like to support the students by offering such courses on a regular basis.

BIGS Neuroscience students who joined the BIGS graduate program after 1st January 2016 must complete one soft skills course in either the 2nd, or the 3rd year of the doctorate. More information on the curriculum are available here.

Available courses offered by BIGS Neuroscience (in close collaboration with other graduate programs)

Find Soft Skills Offers here…

The Bonn Graduate Center supports BIGS schools in the program Promotion PlusBIGS with a large selection of soft skills courses out of these thematic groups:

• Independent Research
• Developing Competences
• Learning to Teach

• Career Management

A list of all online courses of the current semester can be found here. Registration has to be done also at this link.

In the next semester, BIGS Neuroscience office will inform the doctoral students about the courses and the exact registration procedure by e-mail at the appropriate time. 

Other sources of soft skills courses

On request, certain courses from other institutes may also be accepted. Please contact the BIGS office with questions about eligible courses.

• Promotion Plus at the University of Bonn
• Bonner Forum Biomedizin

Language courses

In the program Promotion PlusBIGS we offer German language courses every semester (Level A1, A2, B1). Application takes place once per semester at a certain deadline together with the application for all Promotion PlusBIGS courses. Students will be contacted via email with detailed information on the application procedure.

The University of Bonn offers also more German language courses for international students and doctoral students. Get more information on „Learning German“ at the University of Bonn.

Please note: Attendance in language courses does not count as participation in a soft skills course in order to fulfil this curriculum requirement. Language courses are an additional offer for our international students.