Personnel Development Program for Researchers and Teachers

The ZAB is the central point of contact for all issues relating to accessibility and the active participation of people with disabilities or chronic illnesses at Bielefeld University.

The ZAB offers expertise

on accessible and diversity-sensitive university development
In digital accessibility
for prospective students, students and lecturers on studying with disabilities or chronic illnesses
for employees and managers on employment with disabilities or chronic illnesses

BITS offers courses on common office applications, the statistical software platform SPSS as well as on HTML. This is complemented by weekly ‘consultation hours’ with a member of the IT support team.

Since its founding, the Bielefeld School of Education (BiSEd), has placed special emphasis on supporting young researchers in teacher education.

Working in close collaboration with the faculties involved in teacher-training, the school supports young researchers through the BiSEd Graduate Network. This network is aimed at young researchers in educational sciences and subject didactics, as well as teachers (on secondment) currently working in (higher) education who are either interested in further qualification or are already qualifying, as well as students enrolled on the Master of Education programme who are interested in pursuing a doctoral degree.

As a space for networking, the BiSEd Graduate Network offers advice, information and resources on pursuing doctoral or post-doctoral studies in the context of school and teaching-related subject didactics and educational science research well as research in teacher training.

The interdisciplinary Careers Advice team offers guidance to prospective doctoral candidates, doctoral candidates and postdocs on career paths in research as well as in business and wider society. Topics covered include exploring career decisions, issues related to the doctoral process as well as developing and planning a targeted approach to achieving professional goals either within academia or outside it.

The Career Service offers information and tailored advice on career opportunities in the business and wider society, offering guidance on future career choices, decision-making, goal setting, and applying for positions.

It organises events with prospective employers/alumni where attendees can gain insights into various fields of work as well as make contacts. The advisors responsible for doctoral candidates and Postdocs are part of the team who advise young researchers.

The Competence Center for Research Data is a central service of Bielefeld University that supports members of the university in all matters relating to the management of research data

The Department for Research Administration and Technology Transfer (FFT) is a service department at Bielefeld University offering a comprehensive range of support services for the acquisition and implementation of third-party funded projects as well as for the transfer of knowledge and innovation.

Bielefeld University and the Diversity Team are committed to valuing the diversity of persons who work, study, teach and research here and to support their different abilities, talents and competences.

The eLearning.Media department of the Bielefeld IT Service Center (BITS) is responsible for the conception, provision and further development of the central digital, media-technological and media-practical teaching/learning infrastructure at Bielefeld University.
Various digital platforms such as learning and video platforms, a video conferencing system and microtools are available to support teaching and learning. Technical support for the digital platforms is provided by the TiL team. For the realization of projects around media and digital productions in the field of audio, video, graphics and web, different media rooms and studios such as a voice booth, a photo/video studio and powerful workstations can be used.
The staff of the eLearning.media department support individual teaching/learning settings and provide comprehensive advice from the conception to the implementation of a project.

The Equal Opportunity Office guides the development of the University as a whole with a view to gender equality. It helps to raise awareness of gender aspects throughout the University and to ensure that they are addressed in all areas and processes - including personnel development and the promotion of young researchers.

The Family Service offers information and advice for all questions concerning the balance of work, study and family. In addition to offering comprehensive and confidential advice for (expectant) parents and carers, one of its central tasks is to develop and implement targeted measures to support families.

PunktUm offers German language courses for international scientists, doctoral students and (visiting) lecturers. This free service includes both intensive courses and those that run during the semester. The classes are at all proficiency levels with a focus on everyday university life and academic communication. On request, we can provide advice and tailored lessons on an individual basis, e.g. for support with courses and seminars in German.

Here you can find an overview of all graduate institutions at Bielefeld University

The Health and Wellbeing service provides a range of resources on health, advice and prevention for University members to foster social competences, communication and cooperation. In providing support, it actively seeks to build a culture of trust, and to mitigate situations of stress, conflict and dysfunction in the workplace or in study situations. It shapes study and working conditions, especially leadership processes, to promote health and improve health literacy.

The International Office puts the internationalisation goals of Bielefeld University into practice by coordinating strategic partnerships, conveying examples of good practice, and advising the University internally. It is a service department for international students, doctoral candidates and researchers, as well as for all Bielefeld students, professors and staff who are planning a stay abroad. In addition, the International Office advises faculties on cooperation agreements, internationalization and recruitment measures.

The Language Centre serves the development of foreign language skills for academics.

The Intellectual property & innovation team advises and assists University members in setting up business ventures. The team can help address questions at any stage, from the initial startup concept to preparing a concrete business plan. The team provides information on current funding opportunities, calls for proposals and competitions, and also advises on the EXIST startup grant and EXIST research-transfer fund, among others.

The mentoring programme movement offers female students, doctoral candidates and post-doctoral researchers at Bielefeld University an environment that is conducive to their needs and where they can explore their career paths within a coordinated structure. The programme focuses on raising awareness of one’s own priorities, to develop sustainable career prospects and to identify appropriate strategies for action.

The Personnel Development in Research department offers a wide range of training opportunities and advisory services for researcher and teachers. It focuses in particular on questions of leadership, supervision and management in a research environment as well as on the topic of the university as a workplace. The Personnel Development in Research team coordinates the Personnel Development Programme for Researchers and Teachers (PEP).

The University Didactics & Teaching Development team organises the staff development programme for teaching (including the Bielefeld Certificate for University Teaching and the training and qualification opportunities for tutors). In addition to the workshops on offer, the team can advise teachers on an individual basis on all questions relating to teaching. This includes course planning and evaluation, teaching courses that are research-intensive or writing-intensive, collaborative learning, and the didactic use of digital media in teaching. The team advises and assists teachers in applying for opportunities related to teaching, such as the Teaching Enhancement Fund. In addition, it organises events to facilitate discussion around teaching such as the BI.teach – Day for Teaching which takes place once a year and the ‘LehrBar’ series of regular themed events.

Bielefeld University Library is responsible for providing University members with all required academic literature and information and offers advice on the procurement of subject-specific information. To promote and encourage information and media literacy among our users, we offer courses and workshops to develop skills in researching literature and processing it, handling research data, various aspects of academic publishing as well as selected topics from the area of presentation in teaching and presentation of research results.

Research goes hand in hand with writing and would be unthinkable without it. Whether during studies, when students learn to express their disciplinary practice through writing papers, or in research, where recording results and publishing in journals is integral to the process, writing forges disciplinary scientific knowledge and action. The writing centre has thematised the challenging and often solitary act of writing for over 20 years. It offers a forum for students, researchers and faculty to discuss writing projects, clarify writing tasks, better understand writing processes, plan writing activities and overcome writing blocks.