It has been a busy season for the PhD community: from welcoming new faces to negotiating institutional changes, our PhD representatives have been working to ensure the doctoral experience at the MPIB remains supportive, transparent, and social.
Advocacy & Institutional Updates
In November 2025, our PhD representatives had a biannual meeting with the Board of Managing Directors, the administrative head, and the Career Development Service. This allowed us to bring our suggestions directly to the leadership.
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Happy Hour: Our Happy Hours will continue as before, with the added improvement that each lab now has a designated contact person to help organise them. You can find a schedule on the MAX website — typically Happy Hours are held on Wednesdays or Thursdays.
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Canteen Update: A new canteen provider has been chosen. While a warm food vending machine isn’t feasible right now, we are hopeful that negotiations with the new caterer will improve our options.
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Mental Health Support: While MPG-wide regulations prevent hiring an in-house professional, the institute strongly encourages using the EMAP program. Students who have used it describe it as a helpful first point of contract.
Growing Our Community
Looking ahead, the PhD representatives reported that the 2026 Interview Week in January was a success, and we can expect more than 25 new PhD students to join us between March and October 2026. To support these newcomers, the PhD representatives are launching a Buddy System. Nearly 30 current students have volunteered to help new students navigate life in Munich and the lab.
For those looking for more immediate peer interaction, the PhD representatives organise informal lunches at the LMU Mensa roughly every two weeks. Check the “General” WhatsApp group for announcements.
Upcoming Milestones
Following the 2025 leadership culture survey, the PhD representatives prepared a new, more actionable survey in collaboration with the postdoc representatives and the Career Development Service. Your feedback is essential for driving change!
Finally, it is almost time to pass the torch on to new PhD representatives. The next elections will take place in July 2026.
