Jobs

How to prepare for your interview

• The interview will take 1 h approximately, but please plan some buffer time in case it takes a bit longer.
• I typically start the interviews by answering your questions about the project I am offering, my group, life in Duisburg, etc... Then you give a talk, during which I will interrupt you many times with questions. We keep going until we are both out of questions or the time is up, whichever comes first. By the end of it, we should both be in a position to decide whether we'd work well together on the project for which you apply.
• You should prepare a 15 to 20 min long talk about your prior research. The talk should be supported by presentation slides. Focus on ONE research topic (for PhD candidates, this would be the research you did towards you Master degree). Structure the talk so that a listener understands:

1. What is the scientific question motivating that work;
2. Why is that question important;
3. How you approached the question (which methods you used and why are they appropriate);
4. What are your results and what can be learned from them.

• I encourage you to show your slides to colleagues so that they are clear and have no obvious mistakes, and also that you practice the talk in front of them.

• I do interviews so I can assess your intellectual maturity, your ability to communicate in English, and if your expectations and mine are a good fit so that the project can be carried out successfully. I want to get a feel for your level of understanding about fundamental knowledge from your undergraduate degree and your own prior research work, as well as your ability to think like a scientist.