Education and Training

The Senckenberg School

The solid education of future scientists and technicians is one of Senckenberg’s central concerns. Teaching has a long tradition in the SGN. With the Senckenberg School, Senckenberg offers an education as technical assistant in natural history museums and research institutes that is unique within Germany.

International master’s program

Since 2015, Senckenberg offers an international course in taxonomy and systematics. This two-week course is geared toward interested scientists who wish to apply modern approaches in taxonomy and systematics in their professional context and/or research, or who have a general interest in this branch of science.

Education in master’s and bachelor’s programs

Over 110 scientists at the SGN are involved in teaching students (reporting period summer semester 2016 – winter semester 2016/2017); 62 are committed to basic studies (Bachelor’s programs), and 92 to advanced education (Master’s programs) (double entries are possible). They offer classes at 20 national and 3 international colleges and universities (Fig. 1).

SGN teachers from the different institutes are involved in both basic as well as advanced education, primarily in subjects from the bio- and geo-sciences (Fig. 2).

In the area of advanced education, teachers from the SGN contribute significantly to various study courses. For example, docents of the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F) and the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Frankfurt (SF) offer more than half of the modules in the master’s program “Ecology und Evolution” at Frankfurt’s Goethe University. Scientists from Senckenberg on the Sea (SAM) teach “Marine Biodiversity” to master’s students at the Carl von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg. And students of geosciences at the Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen receive instructions in biogeology and archeological science from docents of the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoecology (SHEP).

An international master’s program, “Biodiversity and Collection Management”, is being offered since 2014 by Senckenberg teachers at the International University Institute (IHI) in Zittau. This globally unique, research-oriented study course combines knowledge about biodiversity and ecosystems with expertise in collection management.

In 2014, the Leibniz Graduate School ‘Impact Vectors’ was established under the guidance of Senckenberg. The Graduate School aims to educate young scientists for interdisciplinary research in the fields of parasitology, infection biology, and vector biology.

For the first time in the winter semester 2016/2017, the TU Dresden/IHI Zittau offered the master’s program “Ecosystem Services” with a significant involvement of Senckenberg scientists.

Supervision of theses and dissertations

In the reporting period, a total of 150 diploma, master’s, and bachelor’s theses as well as about 200 doctoral dissertations were overseen; of these, 91 diploma, BSc, and MSc theses and 35 doctoral dissertations were completed in 2016.

Cooperative professorships

Senckenberg maintains an intensive cooperation with several international universities, which is illustrated, among others, by 26 cooperative professorships (Goethe University in Frankfurt/M., Carl von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg, University of Bremen, TU Dresden, Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen, Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg, and University of Duisburg-Essen).

In addition, three adjunct professors, four honorary professors, and one junior professor are active at Senckenberg.