FAQ

What information and forms do I need for a business trip (Dienstreise)?

Authorization for a business trip (Dienstreisegenehmigung): R0001_Genehmigung_DR A1 form for European countries: A1-Bescheinigung
Link to per diem costs (Tagespauschale): Reisekostensaetze EmpkinS budget numbers: EmpkinS Kostenstellen
Cost categories: Listen_Stichwortverzeichnis_Ausgaben_20220124 USA business trip: Entsendebescheinigung USA

How do I print posters at RRZE?

EmpkinS customer number for print orders: empk000

–> Please send an email to empkins-office@fau.de every time you use this number!

Are there EmpkinS Slack or Signal groups?

Please contact the iRTG doctoral candidate representatives to be added to these groups

Is there an EmpkinS working/meeting space?

The seminar room at Carl-Thiersch-Str 2b in Erlangen is reserved every Thursday from 12:00 to 16:00 for EmpkinS events/meetings and additional workstations at Carl-Thiersch-Str 2b are currently being set up.

Desks for EmpkinS members at Carl-Thiersch-Str 2b are available –> the best way to reserve one is being discussed.

Conference List 2023 (last updated February 22, 2023)

ICDE / A* / April 3 – 7 / Anaheim, California, USA / Deadline October 8, 2022 (already passed)
CHI 2023 / A* / April 23 – 28 / Hamburg / Deadline Sep 15, 2022 (already passed, but still possible to submit to Workshops or Late-Breaking Work!)
ICLR / A* / May 1 – 4 / Kigali, Rwanda / Deadline for papers: 21/28 September 2022 (already passed); Deadline for Workshops: 3 February 2023
ICML / A* / Jul 23rd – 29th / Hawaii / Deadline Jan 26
ICCV / A* / October 4-6 / Paris / Deadline March 8
MICCAI / A* / October 8-12 / Vancouver / Deadline March 9, 2023
ISMAR / A* / 16 – 20 October / Syndey, Australia / Deadline ??? (usually March/April)
ISWC/Ubicomp 2022 / A* / Beginning of October? / Cancun, Mexico / Deadline Ubicomp: Feb 15/May 15, Deadline ISWC: *typically end of April*
ICIS / A* / December 10-13 / Hyderabad, India / Deadline typically beginning of May
HICSS / A / January 3 – 8 / Maui, Hawaii, USA / Deadline 15 Jun 2022 (already passed)
ECIS / A / June 11-16 / Kristiansand, Norway / Deadline November 17, 2022 (already passed)
CaiSE / A / June 12 – 16 / Zaragoza, Spain / Deadlines 22nd November 2022 (Abstract), 29th November 2022 (Final Paper)
IJCNN / A / June 18 – June 23, 2023/ Queensland, Australia / Deadline January 31, 2023
BPM / A / September 11-15 / Utrecht, The Netherlands / Deadlines 15 March 2023 (Abstract), 22 March 2023 (Final Paper)
BHI 2023 / A (aiming for it…) / October 15-18 / Pittsburgh, USA / Deadline: 31 March (special sessions/workshops)/15 April (papers)
VRST / A / usually Nov or Dec / Location ??? / Deadline ??? (usually July)
SAC / B / March 27 – 31 / Tallin, Estonia / October 31st 2022 (already passed)
ISBI 2023 / B / April 18-21 / Cartagena de Indias, Colombia / Deadline: Nov 10 (passed)
ETRA / B / May 30 – June 2 / Tübingen / (Longpaper passed, Short Paper January 9, 2023)
EULAR/ 2023 / B / May 31 – June 3 / Milan, Italy / Deadline 15 Jan, 2023
ESB 2023 / B / July 09-12 / Maastricht, Netherlands / Deadline Jan 31, 2023
EMBC 2023 / B / July 24-28 / Sydney, Australia / Deadline Jan 24
DGRh 2023 / B / August 30 – Sept 2 / Leipzig, Germany / Deadline March 31, 2023
ACR 2022 / B / not yet announced
DGfB 2024 (no congress 2023) / C / April 24 – 26 2024 / Heidelberg, Germany / Deadline not yet announced
CHASE 2023 / B/C? / June 21-23 / Orlando, USA / Deadline Dec 23, 2022
MuC 2023 / C? / September 3-6 / Rapperswil, CH / Deadline: April 5 (Long paper), May 17 (Short paper)
APS 2023 / n/a (Abstracts only) / March 8-11 / Puerto Rico, USA / Deadline Oct 14, 2022 (already passed)
TEAP / n.a. (not ranked) / Mar 26th – 29th / Trier, Germany / Deadline: November 30th (passed)
CMBBE / not ranked / May 3 – 5 / Paris, France / Deadline passed
ACBM / n.a. (not ranked) / May 22nd – 23rd / Bethesda, USA / Deadline: Febuary 1st, 2023
SUSTAINABLE AI CONFERENCE / n.a. (not ranked) / 30 May – 1 June / Bonn, Germany / Deadline: 31 January (passed)
GAMM / not ranked / May 30 – June 02 / Dresden, Germany / Deadline: February 12
DPK / n.a. (not ranked) / Jun 7 – 11 / Berlin, Germany / Deadline: Febuary 15th, 2023
ACM FAccT / n.a. / 12-15 June / Chicago, USA / Deadlines January 30, 2023 (Abstract), February 6, 2023 (Long Paper) (passed both)
EAPC 2023 / n/a (Abstracts only) / June 15-17 / Amsterdam, NL / Deadline: Mid December (already passed)
SPR/ n.a. (not ranked) / June 21st – 24th / Dublin, Ireland / Deadline: December 15th, 2022
CHIL 2023 / n.a. (relatively new, not yet rated) / 22-24 June / open / Deadline: 3 February 2023
MULTIBODY2023 / not ranked / July 24-28 / Lisboa, Portugal / Deadline: 31st December 2022
ISB 2023 / not ranked / July 30 – August 3 / Deadline: January 31
APA / n.a. (not ranked) / Aug 3rd – 5th / Washington DC, USA / Deadline: Febuary 10th, 2023
MLHC 2023 / n.a. (relatively new, not yet rated) / 11-12 August / New York / Deadline: 12 April 2023
Societas Ethica Annual Conference / n.a. (not ranked) / August 24-27, 2023 / Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) / Deadline December 20, 2022 (passed)
ISPNE 2023 / n/a (Abstracts only) / Beginning of September? / London, UK / Deadline: *typically end of June*
GACM Symposium 2023 / not ranked / September 10 – 13 / Vienna, Austria / Deadline: tba
SPR / n.a. (not ranked) / Sep 27 – Oct 1 / New Orleans, USA / Deadline: tba
DGESS / n.a. (not ranked) / September 28th – 30th / Gera, Germany / Deadline: tba
EABCT / n.a. (not ranked) / October 04th – 07th / Antalya, Turkey / Deadline: tba
World Conference Bioethics, Medical Ethics and Health Law / n.a. / October 16-19, 2023 / Porto, Portugal / Deadlines December 23, 2022 (abstract) / February 28, 2023 (poster submission)
ICPM / n/a / October 23-27, 2023 / Rome, Italy / Deadline typically in May
ABCT / n.a. (not ranked) / November 16th – 19th / Seattle, USA / Deadline: tba
WCB / n.a. / n.a., 2024 / Qatar / Deadlines n.a. yet
DPGs / n.a. (not ranked) / n.a. / n.a. / Deadline: tba
ISRII / n.a. (not ranked) / n.a. / n.a. / Deadline: tba
EACLIPT / n.a. (not ranked) / n.a. / n.a. / Deadline: tba
PuG / n.a. (not ranked) / n.a. / n.a., Germany / Deadline: tba

How do I get an EmpkinS certificate?

Doctoral candidates and associated doctoral candidates can take advantage of the attractive opportunities offered through EmpkinS to improve their qualifications. Achievement of the EmpkinS Certificate is mandatory for regular doctoral candidates and highly recommended for associated doctoral candidates, and is accomplished by active participation in the following EmpkinS events as well as approval from the supervisors.

-Team Building (annually, 1-2 days)
-Winter School (once per CRC funding period, 1 week)
-Retreats/General Meetings (annually, 2 days)
-Ethics Talks (semi-annually, 1.5 hours)
-Status Seminars (quarterly, every other time with PIs, half-day)
-Subject-Specific Training (semi-annually, 2 hours)
-EmpkinS Lecture Series (monthly in the first CRC year, 45 minutes)
-Subject-Specific Short Seminars (annually, 1.5 hours)
-CRC-Internal Exchange (for interested candidates, several days to several weeks)
-Cross-Disciplinary Training (semi-annually, 1 day)
-Soft Skills (annually, 1 day)

Panel Discussion Summary from June 29, 2023

3-year mark for PhD

-Pressure to finish the PhD within 3 years causes stress for the doctoral candidates. For some projects (e. g. studies with participants), this is unrealistic. -There is no rule of a 3-year mark, but for the EmpkinS application for the second funding period, it will be a DFG benchmark. For the doctoral candidates who need longer, this will need to be justified to the DFG reviewers in the application. -Each doctoral candidate should try to find a positively-spun answer for themselves, as to why their time to finish takes as long as it does (e. g. we thoroughly exhausted different techniques, etc.). -Doctoral candidates should talk directly to their PIs or to the iRTG team to address any concerns about finishing – EmpkinS events are also an opportunity to discuss with peers and others and get support. -Discuss and express issues sooner rather than later; be proactive. -In the German system, doctoral candidates have a high responsibility to organize their own project. -PIs are responsible for financing their own doctoral candidates when EmpkinS funding ends. -An EmpkinS PI meeting will take place in July 2023 to discuss the projects in the second funding period.

EmpkinS events

-Writing the EmpkinS proposal for the second funding period will begin in the spring of 2024 and should end by December 2024.
-Upcoming EmpkinS events are first discussed at the monthly iRTG Coordination Team meetings; the minutes of these meetings are sent to all iRTG members; events are posted on the calendar on the EmpkinS website; a calendar invite for each event is sent directly to EmpkinS members; a general overview of required EmpkinS events are under FAQ on the EmpkinS Intranet.
-The next doctoral candidate status updates should take place by the end of 2023. Doctoral candidate presentations at the Hand Symposium on October 4-5, 2023, count as EmpkinS status updates.
-Often the same EmpkinS people participate in events – it would be beneficial for all if more EmpkinS people participated in events.
-Suggestions to make it easier for people to attend events: rotate the location of EmpkinS meetings/events to facilitate higher in-person attendance (e. g. Südgelände), no more zoom, make online meetings shorter, and there is the possibility of setting up workstations at Carl-Thiersch-Str 2b.

Communication within EmpkinS (between PhDs): Communication difficulties between groups with different backgrounds and communication styles

-EmpkinS should organize a soft skills workshop/seminar on communication for doctoral candidates of different interdisciplinary backgrounds working together.
-Non-technical people feel misrepresented at EmpkinS discussions/events — each person in EmpkinS should ask themselves if they have contributed to this.
-Talk with PI, peers, other trusted people if there is an issue – anonymous feedback is also possible.
-There are defined EmpkinS people who can offer support:
Equal Opportunities Officer: Amelie Hagelauer
Young Academics Officer: Anne Koelewijn
iRTG Coordination Team: Anna-Maria Liphardt, Anne Keolewijn, Björn Eskofier, Julia Yip, Lisa Walter, Lydia Rupp, Marius Schmidt, Ralf Müller
PI Representative: Georg Schett
-For doctoral candidate international/visa issues, the FAU Welcome Center can offer support.

Co-authorship guidelines: Rules for co-authorship contributions are not clear in some cases

-There are slightly different guidelines for different fields (e. g. medicine versus engineering).
-Scientific contribution warrants authorship, but not necessarily “just” taking measurements, which would justify an acknowledgment but not necessarily authorship.
-Communicate authorship expectations before beginning a project; also communicate potential scientific cultural differences between different fields on interdisciplinary papers as well as the order in which authors will appear on the paper.
-Try to include other EmpkinS people as authors if it makes sense for the paper.
-Good Research Practice defines regulations for authorship.
-Doctoral candidates funded by EmpkinS should publish 1 paper per year, PIs 2 papers per year.

Sharing of resources within EmpkinS (information, skills, student assistants, etc.)

-Please try to communicate needs with EmpkinS peers.
-Budget and resources can, in certain cases, be shifted if there is need.

Communication with PIs: PhDs wish for positive feedback in combination with constructive criticism

-The doctoral candidates wish the PIs would show appreciation.
-This will be communicated at the upcoming PI meeting.
-EmpkinS PIs also feel pressure/stress.
-The PIs think that all EmpkinS doctoral candidates are fantastic and have been selected through a rigorous process.
-Critical feedback from EmpkinS events/presentations, even if it is harsh, is helpful training for critique from DFG and other reviewers.
-The success of EmpkinS is dependent, in large part, on the doctoral candidates.