To Err Night - Science (TENS): "First aid for acute problems"

Friday, 18 January 2019, 3pm - 9pm
Professor Jutta Stahl (Dean of Research, Faculty of Human Sciences)

 “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10.000 ways that won’t work”.
(Thomas Alva Edison)

Does this sound familiar? Are you trying your best but you are not getting the desired results? Only the courage to give it another go seems to wane slowly but surely?

To find that you are not making progress with your own project is not uncommon amongst (up-and-coming) scientists. Quite the contrary: Small and not-so-small crises are the norm rather than the exception.

As a result, the To Err Night – Science (TEN_S), our format on error culture, is about to go into the second round and we would like to cordially invite you to partake on

Friday, 18 January 2019, 3 – 9 pm.

The To Err Night – Science will be organised and hosted by Dean of Research Professor Jutta Stahl and is designed to encourage a more open error culture in science. The TEN_S is meant to not only provide you as aspiring scientists with theoretical information on errors and failure in science but also with practical first-hand experience because talking about mistakes is important – both for science itself and for the scientific community as a whole!

This iteration of the To Err Night has as its motto “First aid for acute problems” As a result, not past errors but concrete problems and crises that participants are dealing with currently are the centre of attention here.

For when the initial plan does not work anymore, your results do not match with your expectations and you seem to drown in your workload, hushing it up, being afraid or simply trying to wait it out will not help. Describing your problem and discussing it with others, however, might not only help you to see things more clearly but might also allow you to benefit from the experiences of others who may have found themselves in similar situations and know how to get out of them again.

So if you are stuck at the moment, could it perhaps not be a good first step to talk about your problems with others and look for solutions together? If this sounds appealing to you, we would be pleased if you would consider participating in and actively contributing to the To Err Night.

Depending on the types of problems that will come up, internal or external experts could be invited, too, to offer possible solutions to your specific problems.

In order to discuss the details of your possible contributions or to settle any questions you may have, please contact Professor Stahl directly (jutta.stahluni-koeln.de).

If you would like to get an idea first as to what is meant by error culture, we would also be delighted if you would register as a “passive” participant via: Graduiertenschule-hfuni.de.

Regardless of whether you intend to be an active contributor or simply participate, one thing is certain: You should never be embarrassed to talk about problems. Talking about them will only help in making us more knowledgeable and smarter.

To conclude the evening, there will be ample opportunity to share your thoughts about errors and error culture with your fellow participants while enjoying the odd drink or two and some snacks.

We would be grateful if you would also draw your colleagues’ and fellow doctoral students’ attention to the To Err Night.

Most of all, though, we look forward to your participation!

Date:
18 January 2019, 3pm - 9pm

Location:
The dean’s conference room (room 0.105), ground floor,
Main building of the Faculty of Human Science, Gronewaldstraße 2, 50931 Cologne

For active contributions, please contact Professor Stahl:
jutta.stahluni-koeln.de

To register (without own contribution), please contact the Graduate School:
graduiertenschule-hfuni-koeln.de