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Prof. Jürgen Mlynek, President of the Helmholtz Association, presents the alumni of the Helmholtz Academy with their certificates. Photo: Helmholtz/Marschalsky
100 Helmholtz Management Academy Alumni Celebrate Their Graduation
100 young next generation managers celebrated their graduation from the Helmholtz Academy in a festive event during which they received their certificates. On 29 September 2011, Prof. Jürgen Mlynek, President of the Helmholtz Association, presented the alumni of the third and fourth year with their diplomas. "The Helmholtz Academy is an important instrument within our talent management, which we take very seriously", said Mlynek. "For the promotion of research projects, the conveyance of management competences becomes more and more important also in the field of science. At the Helmholtz Academy, the next generation of managers is prepared for their future duties and responsibilities."
For one and a half years, the alumni studied topics pertaining to general management. Amongst them are young scientists, administrative colleagues from within the Helmholtz Association as well as participants from cooperating universities, from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and from other scientific institutions. In eight workshops, they have covered topics such as science and research strategy management and organisation. They furthermore acquired knowledge regarding effective leadership. The curriculum was augmented by fireside evenings with interesting individuals from the world of science, the economy and politics.
A significant element of the next generation manager programme is constituted by the mentoring programme. Notable representatives from the world of science, the economy and politics accompany the young managers on their future career path in a mentoring capacity. Several mentors participating in the graduation ceremony furthermore are to promote the networking between the economy, science and politics. After the diploma award ceremony, the first alumni day with approximately 80 participants from all four years since the academy's establishment in 2007 took place on 30 September 2011, focusing on the topic of "Management by Objectives 2.0". During that day, implementation of the learning content was discussed on the basis of several examples from the Helmholtz centres.
The impulse for this was given by Prof. Dietrich Borchart, Head of Division at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), who had applied and altered various management methods from the programme at the Division of Water and Soil Sciences. The highlight of the diploma award ceremony was a ceremonial address by Prof. Jutta Allmendinger, President of the Social Science Research Centre, Berlin, on the topic of "Why does research need management?". She stressed that management responsibilities are indispensable in science yet also expressed a warning against over-management.
The significance of science as such should not get pushed to the background. In October 2011, the fifth year of the Helmholtz Management Academy numbering 48 participants commence their studies, amongst them also representatives from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the German Research Association and the Technical University Berlin.
