Setting up your own research group.

As an early career investigator, starting one's own research group is often the next important step towards a tenured academic position. As a clinical epidemiologist who has recently moved from Leiden in the Netherlands, where I obtained my PhD, to become a group leader in Berlin, Germany, I have been through this transition. In the first few months as a group leader, I encountered several new situations, as might be expected for any other novice group leader. This paper, which describes my own experiences of dealing with these new situations, may help other early career researchers in their preparations and efforts to find their own approach to handling the new situations typically encountered as a group leader.