From 21 to 23 April 2026, we had the privilege of hosting this year’s PhD workshop for the DFG Priority Programme SPP 2388 ‘Hundert Plus’ (SPP 100+) at the University of Stuttgart. Doctoral researchers from the priority program, together with researchers from associated institutions, gathered for three days to share their work, develop their soft skills, and gain insights into research beyond academia.
The first day opened with welcoming remarks from Prof. Michael Haist, followed by presentations on the theme “Start-ups from Research.” Bastian Strybny (hs2 Betoningenieure GmbH) and Julia Hau (Spree Monitoring GmbH) shared their experiences as founders and showed how research can be translated into practice beyond an academic career. In contrast, Steffen Kappes and Stefan Hug (FARO INSIGHT) presented research from the perspective of an established company. The day concluded with a tour of Arena365, a research campus that serves as an innovation platform for collaboration between science and industry, with a focus on the mobility of the future.
The second day was dedicated to the soft skills workshop “Sketch Notes.” The doctoral candidates learned how to visually prepare scientific content and communicate complex topics — including their own research — through simple sketches, a valuable skill for presentations, teaching, and science communication. In the afternoon, the participants visited the Stuttgart TV Tower, the world's first reinforced concrete telecommunications tower.
The third and final day focused on research in companies. Matthias Hillebrand (Bremer SE), Manuela Jungmann (Züblin AG), and Lorenz Haspel (sbp SE) shared their daily work and showed how scientific methods are applied in industrial and non-academic contexts.
We thank all speakers for their candid insights and all participants for the lively discussions throughout the workshop. Special thanks go to the organizers at the University of Stuttgart for hosting the event.