Doctor Tonke

“Tonke is a great group mentor”

“

The PhD Group was a real life-saver – not only because there was/is a corona lockdown in Germany, but also because it took effort to adapt to a new home-office situation. The weekly meetings helped me to take time for my own projects (in and outside of work), set goals for the week and even reflect on the long term perspective. I valued most that it wasn’t about our actual Phd topics, but rather how we bring harmony to our daily life. Everyone of us shared our successes, failures and goals without being ashamed and I felt supported by my group. I loved to see that although we were all from different countries and disciplines, we could all relate to the others’ feelings. Tonke is a great group mentor, she makes sure each and everyone gets to talk, responds to individual situations and struggles and doesn’t only share her experiences on finishing a PhD, but also blends into the group, letting (conversational) hierarchies disappear by never loosing them out of sight. PhD groups on Monday were a good start into the new week!

– Constanze Küchler – Universität Augsburg, Germany