At Graduate Campus, we are trying to bring together junior researchers so that they can exchange knowledge and experiences. In 2015, three UZH researchers successfully applied for participation in the LERU Summer School in Oxford via the Graduate Campus. We were happy to hear their experience was a good one and that it resulted in new knowledge and contacts. Please read for yourselves...

The LERU summer school focused on soft skills for doctoral candidates. In contrast to usual programs, the LERU tries to provide a toolbox with aids that transcend the own research field. Here you will gain experience in fields that are important for the leaders of tomorrow. Being a good scientist and researcher is important, but excellence means more than being able to push the research frontier. Building leadership skills, taking research integrity into consideration, communicating visions and building networks are probably just as important for a successful future. This year’s summer school gave us the possibility to get insights from different perspectives into “Sharing Excellence – The Value of Knowledge Exchange”. Oxford University organized a tailored program that included workshops of how to read body language at networking events or how to communicate your ideas to support your research. Within one week we were able to broaden our horizons and we got to know other PhD candidates from all over Europe. A special advantage of the summer school is its size: We were able to get in touch with all of the speakers. These few days were definitely a good investment that will clearly pays off for all of us. In short, the LERU summer school was one of the best events in my PhD time leaving me with remarkable memories and new friends across the continent.

^{LERU Summer School 2015, participants on the River Thame}

The LERU Summer School 2015 brought together over 40 PhD researchers from 19 European universities to discuss about knowledge exchange. We were welcomed in the wonderful venue of the University of Oxford and attended several informative courses ranging from networking to IP rights, over consultancy and start-ups. The study programme was excellently organised and included theoretical, practical and leisure parts. However, the greatest added value of this Summer School undoubtedly lied in the inspiring interdisciplinary contact with other researchers. The variety of discussions covering topics such as artificial robotic intelligence, experiments on mice, social behaviour and archaeological sites brings one out of the everyday life and provides new inputs, perspectives and a boost of creativity. The exchange was so fruitful that a reunion of the LERU Summer School group 2015 is already on planning with the aim of ensuring a long-lasting interdisciplinary knowledge exchange.