Organisational structure

The Research School has an organisational structure that consists of the following elements:

 

The Advisory Board

The Advisory Board consists of the heads of all participating institutions, the Director of the AWI (Prof. Dr. K. Lochte), the President of the Jacobs University (Prof. Dr. K. Windt) and the President of Bremen University (Prof. Dr. B. Scholz-Reiter) and assumes the ultimate authority over the Research School. The Advisory Board will meet at least once a year and is responsible for strategic decisions concerning the Research School.

The Academic Council

The Academic Council is composed of the speaker of the Research School (Prof. Dr. G. Lohmann, AWI), who will be the representative of the Research School, one representative from each of the participating institutions (Prof. Dr. D. Wolf-Gladrow (AWI), Prof. Dr. J. Notholt (Uni-HB), Prof. Dr. V. Unnithan (Jacobs University)), the coordinators (Dr. K. Grosfeld and Dr. Helge Meggers), a PhD-student delegate (Matthias Buschmann), and a supervisor delegate (Dr. Astrid Bracher). The responsibilities of the Academic Council are to oversee and develop all academic matters, including the development of scientific fields, outward scientific presentation, invitation of guest professors, student recruitment and admission, academic integrity, conflict resolution, and review of funding proposals. The Academic Council may appoint committees as it sees fit; a Student Assembly and Supervisor Assembly will be installed in any case.

The members of the Academic Council have to be confirmed annually by the Advisory Board, which also suggests and elects new members. The Academic Council will meet on a regular three-monthly basis.

The Administration

The Administration of the Research School handles all financial matters and the PhD-students contracts.

The Supervisor Assembly

All important decisions regarding the Research School’s educational and PhD research programme will be taken after thorough debate within the Supervisor Assembly. This assembly will also propose guest professors for advanced lectures and suggest new topics in the educational programme. The Supervisor Assembly will be chaired by an elected person, who will be a delegate on the Academic Council. The Supervisor Assembly convenes at least twice a year (once a semester).

The PhD-Student Assembly

The PhD-Student Assembly comprises all PhD students of the Research School. The PhD-Student Assembly is a largely self-organized representation of the School’s student members and works out its rules and procedures autonomously. It convenes at least once a year, when one student delegate for the Academic Council will be elected. The assembly is the forum for the PhD students to discuss all issues related to the graduate training they receive at the Research School and its related research institutions. Here, demands in terms of course topics and supervision requirements, as well as deficiencies in the programme, can be formulated and communicated to the Academic Council and/or the ombudsman.

Ombudsman

Personal problems between supervisors and PhD students (or in other relations) are likely to occur from time to time. For such cases, an Ombudsman will be available to moderate discussion between the affected parties. The Ombudsman is a confidant to be contacted.

PhD-Admission

Admission to the ESSReS will be possible through one of the participating institutions. Totaling, 24 Ph-D students per 3-years term will be member of the Research School. Up to 12 PhD-positions will be offered per term through the Research School while the other PhD-students can apply from already funded projects within the institutions.