Concept

’Hetairos‘ means friend or colleague in ancient Greek, and it is on this basis that the GSGG in cooperation with the ‘Hochschuldidaktik Göttingen’ unit developed the Hetairos programme. Its aim is to improve training in didactics for young academics, and to give them systematic and professional support as they enter university teaching.

The Hetairos programme uses two tried-and-tested approaches to training skills in teaching and communication, linking a basic course in university teaching in higher education with elements of team teaching.
Participants are given an intensive introduction to the theory and practice of academic teaching, while at the same time planning and conducting a seminar together with an experienced university teacher.
Having taken part in the team-teaching scheme, young academics are able to experience the first seminar they lead alone not as a typical case of being thrown in at the deep end, but with the benefit of experience gathered in the company of an experienced colleague.

The young academics hence profit from the experience of their colleagues, who in turn benefit from new ideas generated in the course of this process.

The Hetairos programme is designed to raise the didactical competence of young academics and to give them professional support as they enter the domain of university instruction. It therefore has a lastingly positive effect on the quality of one of the University’s central tasks, that of teaching. At the same time, the Hetairos programme participants are able to gain skills with high significance for their academic career.

The Hetairos programme is one of a number of support instruments offered by the GSGG aimed at giving doctoral candidates in the humanities opportunities paving the way for an academic career by assisting acquisition of additional qualifications.