Eighteen excellent young scientists (PhD students and postdocs) have been selected for the EC3R Juniors Program. Early career researchers from all EC3R projects are part of this program.
They have elected two spokespersons, Pragati Nalinkumar Parakkat and Mara Fischer. They take an active role in the development of the EC3R Juniors Program and represent the interests of the early career researchers in the EC3R Steering Committee.
The EC3R Juniors Program provides networking opportunities with scientists from other EC3R projects and other institutions. These early career researchers also benefit from the opportunities listed here, which are exclusively available to participants of the EC3R Juniors Program.
The various supports of the EC3R Juniors group are constantly being expanded in cooperation with the participants. Their ideas and wishes play an important role in shaping the program.
In 2022, a mentoring program for young scientists at the EC3R has been established. This program aims to specifically support PhD students during their doctoral studies. The goal is to encourage the young scientists in expanding their scientific expertise and career development through personal mentoring with excellent scientists.
Within the framework of the annual EC3R Berlin Lab Visits, all eight EC3R projects enable individual visits to their laboratories for early career researchers from other EC3R research projects. The aim is to promote intensive exchange of knowledge and methods, as well as networking opportunities within the different research groups of the EC3R. The young scientists can thus look beyond the horizon of their own projects and get intensively involved with scientists from others projects.
Junior Scientist Day is a day specifically for EC3R junior scientists to facilitate exchange and networking opportunities within the group. Together with the respective spokespersons for the group, the EC3R Education & Training Office has developed the program for the Junior Days in June 2022, July 2023, March 2025, and October 2025. The days will be used for discussions about the projects and personal exchanges.
In the context of the promotion of young researchers, the participants of the EC3R Juniors are to benefit from workshops specifically tailored to their needs. During the first EC3R Juniors Day in 2022, a 2-hour career development workshop with Amanda Wichert took place. Due to the positive feedback, a full-day follow-up workshop with the trainer took place in October 2023. In October 2025, a workshop on project management was also offered as part of Junior Scientist Day.
