Where can I find institutional support in Berlin?

In the case of scientific or professional misconduct, every institution has to provide an ombudsperson. They have to treat your case confidentially and are not directly linked with your lab/department/supervisor. The following contacts provide ombudspersons (=Vertrauenspersonenen) and equal opportunity officers (=Gleichstellungsbeauftragte) in Berlin.

Additionally, you can find a list of courses at the Humboldt-Universität and Technische Universität Berlin aimed at increasing your resilience and de-stressing your PhD journey. 

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

  • Ombudspersons for concerns about scientific misconduct
  • Contacts for conflict counseling
  • Mental health courses at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain

Freie Universität Berlin

  • Contacts for ensuring principles of Good Scientific Practice
  • Contacts for conflict counseling

Technische Universität Berlin

  • List of useful contacts around the topics of mental health, work-life-balance and good scientific practice
  • Overview of mental health related courses under module IV

Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP)

Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC)

  • Guidelines on Good Scientific Practice and ombudsperson

Einstein Center of Neuroscience

As an ECN fellow, consider the following steps to solve your problem:

  1. Depending on the type of problem, address either your supervision committee (research, finances), Dr. Oliver Mai-Kolerus (administration, finances), or Dr. Benedikt Salmen (education)
  2. If the problem was not solved contact the ECN conflict mentor Prof. Constance Scharff or spokesperson Prof. Dietmar Schmitz.
  3. If the problem is still not solved, contact the ombudsperson of your hosting institution.