What is the HIRe-Deal?
As a HGS-HIRe participant you have the right to participate in our program free of charge. Based on availability you can join as many HGS-HIRe events as you like. If you want to get access to the personal HGS-HIRe travel budget you need to take softskill courses every year, have to hold regular PhD committee meetings every half year, and you should actively participate in our lecture/power weeks.
How do I register for a HGS-HIRe event?
Please just send an email to info@hgs-hire.de. If there is availability we will let you know and will sign you up for the event.
I am participant in another Graduate School as well. Do I have to do everything double?
No, please talk to us. In most cases we just accept that you already took softskill seminars or have regular PhD committees, etc. Our aim is to enhance your training, not to burden your life. We are quite relaxed on this and will make every effort within our possibilities to find a working solution.
What happens if I don't take any softskill courses?
Nothing big. You will miss a great chance to broaden your knowledge in this direction and you will
not be able to access your individual travel money.
Can I continue my training of softskills beyond the courses offered at HGS-HIRe?
Sure, most of our partner universities have a long list of very detailed mono-thematic softskill seminars that can add on your expertise that you acquired during our softskill seminars. In case there is strong demand we even can organize and offer additional, more specialized HGS-HIRe softskill courses.
Can I substitute the HGS-HIRe softskill courses by other offers at other graduate schools or at the partner universities?
Yes, you can. If you really do not like our approach of multi-thematic, interdisciplinary residential softskill seminars, in principle you can substitute by other softskill courses with a similar demand on workload (3.5 resp. 2.5 days per year). But if you never tried our own HGS-HIRe courses we highly recommend to try them first. The overwhelming majority of participants taking the courses rate them in the feedback as good-very good.
What happens if I have to cancel an event?
If you cancel up to 10 days before the course starts, no problem. After that we need to charge your share of the costs to your individual HGS-HIRe travel budget. In case you are sick, a cancelation is accepted any time, but please hand an attestation in and you are fine.
Do I actively have to participate in the program of HGS-HIRe?
This is a sad question. If you really do not want to participate in the program and do not participate in any lecture weeks, softskill seminars or do not want any travel money from us and just think 'I'm fine, don't spend money for me' please talk to us. In most cases this is acceptable and we can change your participantship into an 'associated participantship'. In this case you do not need to do anything that costs us money but only need to participate in the semi-annual PhD-committee meetings if you receive funding from one of our funding partners as this is a mandatory requirement by our funding partners to track the progress of the doctoral project (in addition we believe it is extremely helpful and useful for yourself as well).
Can I arbitrarily choose a HGS-HIRe softskill course?
Sorry, generally this is not possible since our HGS-HIRe softskill courses are an integrated series of three courses.
They focus on various transferable skills combined in each course, i.e. different aspects of professional and personal development.
The three courses are tailored for doctoral students starting, progressing and finishing their doctoral project. Therefore, the second course is meant
be taken after completion of the first course, the third after the second.
Can I suggest topics for HGS-HIRe Lecture Weeks and Power Weeks?
Yes, of course! Your are very welcome to do so. In case there is a reasonably strong demand for your suggested topic(s) we are happy to organize a corresponding lecture or power week.
