Welcome to FYORD – Foster Young Ocean Researcher Development

The FYORD program summarized as graphic recording. © Uni. Kiel / Innopilot

Are you an early career marine researcher looking for a community that supports and empowers you in your career? Check out FYORD – Foster Young Ocean Researcher Development! Jointly established by Kiel Marine Sciences (KMS) at Christian Albrechts University and GEOMAR – Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel, FYORD is an interdisciplinary program designed to connect and support early career marine researchers, from master´s students over doctoral to postdoctoral researchers, in and outside Kiel.

As a cross-status group and cross-institutional program, FYORD aims to fill the gaps in status group overarching support for early career marine researchers. In particular, it offers courses, training, and events that cater to the specific needs of master’s students, doctor candidates and postdocs. By building a strong, cross-institutional scientific community, FYORD also provides networking opportunities and career guidance within and outside academia, giving early career marine researchers a chance to develop their research questions and find their own career path. The program also offers needs-based courses focused on interdisciplinary scientific approaches to marine science and funding opportunities.

Now let’s see what FYORD can offer to each status group:

Masters@FYORD

For master´s students, orientation is of utmost importance, both in scientific terms and in terms of options on the labor market. FYORD aims to help clarify career paths with career guidance events and to connect master´s students with other early career marine researchers, i.e. doctoral and postdoctoral researchers. This connection with senior and advanced colleagues can benefit master´s students in finding the right research topic or successfully applying to the job market.

Docs@FYORD

The education of doctoral researchers plays a special role within the FYORD program. During the doctoral phase, candidates are given scientific mentoring, equip themselves with scientific and transferable skills, and are supported in orienting themselves for life after the doctorate. FYORD shapes courses and events specifically to the needs of doctoral researchers in marine science, with a mix of scientific training, transferable skills training, and support in addressing career opportunities after the doctoral degree.

Postdocs@FYORD

For postdocs, FYORD provides career guidance within and outside of academia and science. FYORD also offers funding opportunities and science-related specific courses and training. Regarding socialization within this status group, they can discuss their research projects, challenges in mentoring students, and possibilities in building their individual research portfolios at the annual Postdoc Retreat and other networking events including “World Cafés”.

In summary, the FYORD program was created to specifically support young researchers from master students to postdocs working on marine topics in Kiel by offering structural visibility for individual status groups, networking across and within status groups, career orientation, and science-related specific courses and training. To become a member of FYORD, you can register on their website (https://www.uni-kiel.de/en/fyord). As a member, you will have access to various events and courses.

If you are an early career researcher already working with or interested in marine science looking to build a strong network of peers and advance your career, consider joining the FYORD program today!

Dr. Sibiao Liu and Dr. Christine Haunhorst

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