Graduate Retreat Sion
Imagine spending an entire week immersed in the breathtaking surroundings of Sion, Switzerland, at our prestigious annual retreat. Hosted at the charming "Maison Blanche" and "Le Coq" houses, this retreat offers a unique opportunity for doctoral students to connect, collaborate, and cultivate their research passions.
The aim of the PhD retreat is, on the one hand, to get to know the doctoral students of the faculty and, on the other hand, to exchange scientific ideas with each other and to discuss their own research in a targeted manner.
The main purposes of the retreat are:
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- networking and getting to know what the other chairs are doing, and to
- vastly discuss your PhD / Post-Doctoral work with others,
- strengthening skills in the field of scientific work,
- develop soft skills,
- and to promote individual career planning.
The retreat is YOUR chance at focusing on your research for a whole week in the company of likeminded colleagues, reflecting on scientific endeavors and ways of dealing with hurdles. You will be discussing your scientific approach with researchers from a variety of disciplines representing the diversity within the faculty. Two professors will be accompanying you from the computer science and the geography perspective, respectively.
In 2024, Prof. Zaunseder and Prof. Timpf joined the Retreat to offer their insights, aids and experiences.
In addition to the workshop phases, there are also joint day and evening programs, which led to a constant exchange of ideas. This enables solutions to be found to both general problems and subject-specific challenges.
Last two years participants were enthusiastic about the lessons learnt in Sion and they are still meeting for lunch or evening activities, emphasizing the social side of the Sion experience.
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You may find more detailed information about a typical Sion week further down.
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Activities in Sion
The Sion experience is always set in motion with travelling (usually by van) to Sion. If we have good weather, we cross the lake Constance using the ferry from Friedrichshafen to Romanshorn - a nice break along the road. We also often take the car train that goes through the tunnel from Kandersteg to Goppenstein to save some time.
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We usually start Sunday night with a round of introduction and a first task, once everyone has arrived. Monday morning we walk through Sion, do our grocery shopping and populate the expectation tree. Depending on the input from that tree, the schedule and the content of the rest of the week will be adjusted. The accompanying professors always have something prepared, but everything may be changed according on the expectations of our graduates. Sometimes we invite external experts or we visit Swiss colleagues.
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We also always schedule a hike depending on weather. Cooking for 10-15 people in a (relatively) small kitchen brings its own challenges. And then there are cherries or apricots to pick, some time to spend in the sun or to relax on the big sofa landscape...If you bring questions and doubts, there is at least one willing ear to discuss and attempt solutions. And yes, we also have fun together.
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Daily structure
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8 am |
joint breakfast |
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9 am |
morning session |
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12 pm |
cooking&lunch |
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2 pm |
afternoon session |
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6 pm |
cooking&dinner |
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8 pm |
evening session |
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Weekly Schedule in 2024
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Sun day: driving to Sion
Sun evening: getting to know each other and each others' topics
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Mon morning: Sion walk, populating the expectation tree (i.e. writing down your expectations and wishes for this week)
Mon afternoon: learning about, writing and performing your own elevator pitch
Mon evening: explaining egg-fall challenge
Tue morning: working on good title and succint abstract for the thesis
Tue afternoon: learning about multi-disciplinary work (topic from expectation tree), UniA Graduate Center
Tue evening: work on egg-fall challenge, collaboration (topic from expectation tree)
Wed hike,?https://www.visit-grande-dixence.ch/de/ (hike with goal determined by the group)
Wed evening: work on egg-fall challenge, collaboration
Thu morning: workflow during a thesis, research design (topic from expectation tree)
Thu afternoon: literature search using AI-tools (presentation by Mrs. Cardoso)
Thu evening: egg-fall-challenge presentation, PhD experience (topic from expectation tree)
Fri morning: picking a methodology (topic from expectation tree)
Fri afternoon: ideas for other retreats, picking the expectation tree
Fri evening: cleaning up all used areas
Sat: breakfast and cleaning the kitchen, leaving around 9am
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