One important focus of the RDN is the fostering of Early Career Researchers (ECRs). The training of doctoral researchers takes place under the special guidance of the International Graduate School of Neuroscience (IGSN). Founded in 2001, the IGSN provides an independent pillar with its structured, internationally renowned, interdisciplinary neuroscience doctoral program under the umbrella of the RDN and attracts talented students from all over the world.

With its own academic right to award a "PhD in Neuroscience", the IGSN is an established "open faculty" in the field of neuroscience. Graduate training for the SFB 1280 and FOR 2812 takes place within the IGSN, as well as the training of further doctoral researchers from numerous neuroscientific research projects of members of the RDN. There is also close cooperation with the RTG 2862 "Monoaminergic Neuronal Networks & Disease".

The strategy of high level training at the IGSN along with extracurricular soft skills training by the Research School of Ruhr University Bochum and the involvement of doctoral researchers in cutting-edge research projects, promotes the synergy effect of excellent training in an excellent research environment.

The IGSN is a member of the German Graduate Schools of Neuroscience and the Network of European Neuroscience Schools (NENS) and thereby has an excellent national and international network. The director of the IGSN, Prof. Dr. Denise Manahan-Vaughan, is co-founder of NENS.

Another structured graduate program is offered by the International Graduate School of Biosciences of the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology.

The RDN also provides an important role in the support of early career researchers at the level of postdoctoral fellows. It supports independent research at a very early stage of young scientists' careers, with the aim of integrating them into the RDN's decision-making processes. This is expressed, among other things, in the fact that postdocs can apply for membership of the RDN if they meet the admission criteria and are thus directly involved in the RDN's decision-making processes.

The Research Academy Ruhr (RAR) as a joint platform provided by Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund University and the University of Duisburg-Essen supports ECRs on their career path in science and beyond. The RAR is responsible for teaching soft skills such as science communication, leadership, research management and scientific networking. In addition to workshops specifically for doctoral researchers and postdocs, the Research Academy Ruhr also explicitly offers workshops and mentoring "on the way to a professorship" within the "Junior Faculty".