Qualification programme of the RTG in the winter semester 2025/2026

In the winter semester 2025/2026, several events took place within the framework of the Qualification Programme of the RTG 2753 for the second cohort.

From the 3rd to the 4th of November, a seminar on Good Scientific Practice was conducted by Helga Nolte, head of the Ombuds Office of the University of Hamburg. This seminar, which is mandatory for all RTG members, addressed key aspects of research integrity, regulations on good scientific practice at the local, national, and international levels, as well as definitions of research misconduct and questionable research practices. Further core topics included research data management and documentation, authorship and publication standards, principles of good supervision, the Ombuds system according to the DFG Code of Conduct, and the consequences of scientific misconduct.

From the 10th to the 12th of November 2025, Dr. Fabrizio Damicelli offered a three-day introductory course on Python as part of the Methods Academy of the RTG. The course covered the fundamentals of the Python programming language with a focus on scientific computing and data analysis. Designed for both beginners and participants with prior experience, the course combined structured explanations with hands-on exercises and integrative mini-projects. Participants had the opportunity to share their expectations prior to the course, ensuring tailored content.

On the 16th of January 2026, Dr. Sarah Koch from the University of Hamburg conducted a hands-on workshop on PsychoPy. The workshop introduced participants to the PsychoPy software environment, enabling them to design and implement psychological and neuroscientific experiments with minimal programming knowledge. In addition to building experiments from scratch, participants were guided on how to integrate custom Python code for more complex experimental designs. The workshop combined theoretical input with practical application and was embedded in the broader methodological training strategy of the RTG.

Together, these events strengthened the general and methodological competencies of RTG members in line with the structured concept of its qualification programme.