Conversations on the Water: RMU Researchers Meet on the Main River
Photos: Moritz Hoffmann (GRADE)
At the end of May, doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers from the Rhine-Main Universities came together for a boat tour on Frankfurt’s Main River as part of the RMU Social Welcoming Events. Bringing together international researchers from a wide range of disciplines, the afternoon was shaped by lively conversations and a striking sense of common ground across fields. Despite their different academic backgrounds, many participants found themselves discussing remarkably similar questions and challenges.
These conversations ranged from career decisions within and beyond academia to the uncertainties of fixed-term qualification phases and current developments in research culture. Exchanging perspectives with colleagues from other disciplines offered valuable new insights for participants working in areas including biomedical cancer research, technical engineering, electronics and economics. It also became clear how strongly shared experiences can connect researchers across institutional and disciplinary boundaries.
A summer afternoon between skyline and riverbank
In bright sunshine, the boat departed from Frankfurt’s Eiserner Steg and travelled past the Museumsufer and the European Central Bank towards the Osthafen before returning through the city centre. Drinks and light snacks on board accompanied the conversations, while Frankfurt’s skyline and the riverside passed by.
Discussions on the upper deck covered a broad range of topics: how artificial intelligence is reshaping research and publishing, the role AI already plays in literature reviews and writing, and how researchers are beginning to integrate these tools into everyday academic communication. Participants also shared experiences with journal publishing and reflected on how to balance long-term career planning with the demands of research.
Beyond academic life, conversations naturally expanded to everyday experiences in the Rhine-Main region, from recommendations for lakes and swimming spots to the realities of commuting between Frankfurt, Mainz and Darmstadt. The youngest guest on board, the daughter of one of the Mainz-based researchers, spent most of her first boat trip on the Main peacefully asleep in her stroller.
RMU Social Welcoming Events create space for exchange
The boat tour was part of the RMU Social Welcoming Events, a joint event series for early-career researchers across the Rhine-Main Universities. The program is organized on a rotating basis by GRADE at Goethe University Frankfurt, INGENIUM at TU Darmstadt and the Gutenberg Academy at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Its aim is to bring together doctoral candidates and postdocs from all three institutions and strengthen exchange across universities and disciplines.
This year’s boat tour offered a memorable setting for that exchange: an afternoon of conversation, new connections and shared perspectives, accompanied by summer weather and a view of Frankfurt from the river.
The next opportunity to connect is already coming up soon: the RMU Postdoc Career Weeks will once again bring together postdocs and advanced PhD candidates from across the network for workshops, discussions and exchange on academic careers and beyond.
