Promotion of young scientists

A special feature of the enable-cluster is the promotion of young scientists. Young researchers are particularly close to our hearts. That is why they also have a central position within the individual projects; a variety of enable funding instruments are available for them.

Support for young scientists

The enable-cluster offers extensive measures for promoting young researchers in a distinctly interdisciplinary environment.

In addition, we have established a number of dedicated forums within enable specifically for our young scientists:

Full-day seminars for all enable doctoral students are offered at regular intervals. Similar to a graduate college, enable thus establishes its own instrument for the transfer of knowledge and continuous training of young scientists. Hereby, the young researchers also receive comprehensive interdisciplinary training.

In the three years of the funding period, young researchers will have two opportunities to actively participate in a cross-cluster summer school. Each summer school will last several days and will be organized with the participation of internationally renowned scientists and participants from the four competence clusters of nutrition research. In this way, we also explicitly promote networking across the four clusters.

Here - nomen est omen - the networking of young scientists is in the focus. We support young scientists in the self-organization of events which they consider necessary and meaningful in the context of their doctoral studies in enable projects. Here, the impulse and the idea for a concrete event comes from the young scientists themselves. In addition, there will also be a separate enable young scientists project in the second funding phase. Through self-organization, the young scientists acquire valuable soft skills and helpful additional knowledge for their later function in science and industry.

enable doctoral candidates are encouraged to actively present their results in relevant food manufacturing or technology companies or in relevant national and international institutions. This provides them with insights into companies and their working methods. At the same time, the science-industry axis is established, expanded and strengthened. In addition, the young scientists' understanding of the situation and conditions in the company is sharpened. A "training on the job program" establishes early contact between young graduates and potential employers and vice versa. It is a valuable tool for establishing oneself in the labor market.

Scientific research is not an end in itself. Rather, the aim is to transfer scientific findings into commercially viable ideas. In order to create awareness of these connections and to provide support for spin-offs, licensing or patenting, the young scientists have the opportunity to participate in innovation trainings several times during the three-year funding phase. We conduct these in cooperation with and at the premises of UnternehmerTUM in Garching.