GRADUIERTENKOLLEG 1554

The winter workshop 2018 from the 18^th to 19^th of October took place at hotel Schlosshotel Blankenburg which was a very good location for such an event.

Blankenburg is a small and beautiful town located in the northeast of the Harz mountains in the west of Saxony-Anhalt. In the past the city was destroyed a few times because of following the wrong lord or because of wars (e.g. WWII). The most important economic factors for the city Blankenburg are tourism and health institutions, nowadays. Therefore, the historic buildings of Blankenburg are restored and the nature is under conservation.

Because the GkMM has reached its final time only some students are left which have to participate to the workshop. Due to this, we started very late to our destination on Thursday and as a result the workshop started late too (11:10am). Further on, some participants got sick very shortly which was a big surprise. But we could compensate there absence very well by extending the discussion times after each presentation.

The workshop had 16 contributions in the form of presentations and posters. In 11 presentations each participant was given 15 minutes to present current research results followed by a 5 minute discussion with the audience which was extended due to the illnesses. This proven format allowed to identify helpful approaches for sticking points as well as to ignite further discussions during coffee breaks and social activities. During the poster-presentation four participants first introduced the content of their poster in a few presentation slides. Afterwards there was time for all participants to study the presented posters and discuss questions with the presenters in detail.

The first day closed with a short city-tour through the city Blankenburg which was a little bit outlined in the first paragraph, already. The tour closed in front of our hotel. After this we moved on to the restaurant “La Luna” where our GkMM dinner took place. These social events gave opportunity to learn something about the history of Blankenburg and much more important to discuss some issues or problems with colleagues which could not be discussed in detail during the workshop. Moreover, social programme supports growing together of the whole group and integration of new members, respectively.

The workshop format was proven successful when nearly everyone was able to stick to their scheduled time. When it was necessary the discussion was continued in coffee breaks, during lunch or social events. The workshop also included a board meeting.

We departed on Friday after a lunch for our journey back to Magdeburg. All arrived well in the afternoon.

Here you find the programme.