The Helmholtz Leadership Academy: Top Research Needs Leadership

At Helmholtz, research is often conducted in the form of complex and, in many cases, international projects that involve major infrastructure assets like particle accelerators or research vessels. This yields a broad range of research topics but also a host of potential conflicts, e.g. within interdisciplinary teams or between different functional areas.

To ensure our managers have what it takes to successfully manage these conflicts, in 2007 the Helmholtz Association created the first academy for leaders in the German research system. Ever since, managers from the research, administration and infrastructure areas have been introduced to essential methods and tools for their work as leaders. The Academy’s programs are tailored to participants’ respective leadership situations, with experienced managers within the Association providing support and shaping the content.

Our Academy not only offers participants research-specific and Helmholtz-specific leadership training. It also offers a space in which they can openly discuss the challenges of their work and learn from each other’s experiences – an aspect that, together with the resultant sense of community, is greatly appreciated by participants. Each becomes part of a group of like-minded individuals, who, despite their differences, face similar challenges and share the desire to find solutions and actively shape their area of responsibility. For many of them, the Academy is also a place where they can truly see and feel Helmholtz as a community.

More than 1,100 employees from the Helmholtz Centers have attended the Academy, the majority of which still serve as leaders at Helmholtz Centers today. What’s more, many alumni – with the support of the Academy Team – remain active members of the Academy network after graduating. They continue to meet as a group or with Academy alumni at their Center, work on leadership topics on their own initiative, participate in central Academy events like the annual Leadership Lab, or share their experiences with today’s Academy groups as guest speakers at our extremely popular fireside chats.

In this way, the Helmholtz Leadership Academy fosters a closer-knit community.

Bild: David Marschalsky