Networking activities

One of the main tasks of actionuni is the exchange with key stakeholders to influence the Education, Research and Innovation Policy of the coming years. Here we inform you in short about these networking activities.

Eurodoc 2020, Warsaw

Eurodoc, Events, Uncategorized

The Eurodoc 2020 conference will take place in Warsaw, Poland, on April 22-23, 2020. The event is organised by Krajowa Reprezentacja Doktorantów (KRD) and Eurodoc, the European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers with the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education Republic of Poland.

The main aim of the Eurodoc annual conference is to provide a platform to bring together Eurodoc members i.e. National Association (NAs), early-career researchers (ECRs), higher education policy makers, universities, funding institutions, businesses, and other stakeholders to address issues relevant to ECRs, higher education, and research. The conference is a great opportunity to meet and network with other ECRs from across Europe.

actionuni – der Schweizer Mittelbau supports the Swiss Women’s Strike on 14 June 2019!

Events

We believe that an increased promotion of women is necessary in order to draw on the full potential of excellent scientists. Additionally, we think that temporarily, quota are necessary in those disciplines, where women are heavily underrepresented, especially at senior research and professorial levels. Moreover, we strive for an equal representation of women and men in decision bodies to overcome structural deficits!

Please read about our further positions in our position paper (DE, FR, EN)

Furthermore, we would also like to inform you about the Academic Manifesto for the Feminist Strike (EN, DE, FR).

Save the date: General Assembly 2019

Events, Internal

We invite you to actionuni’s next General Assembly, followed by an Aperó:

May 13, 2018, 4:00-7:00 p.m. in Bern

Location: University of Bern
Building: UniS, Schanzeneckstrasse 1
Room: A 201

We are looking for candidates from all types of universities, in particular from Universities of Applied Sciences and Universities of Teacher Education for the following positions:

  • co-presidents: all university types
  • board members: actuary, treasurer, webmaster
  • Swiss Higher Education Conference
  • Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Student
  • Social Media Coordinator (German speaking if possible)

Please send your letters of interest to: president@actionuni.ch

Symposium Doctoral Supervision at ETH

Events

Last week, an interesting symposium on the topic of supervising doctoral students was held by ETH in Zurich.

It was discussed, how better training for supervisors can improve quality of supervision, how a contract between the PhD-student and the supervisor can help clarify expectations, how PhD-committees help balance power, which platforms can help strengthen peer-feedback among supervisors and establish a commonly agreed on “code of conduct” for supervisors.

All inputs of the symposium can be found here: https://www.video.ethz.ch/events/2019/supervision.html

We are looking forward to see the ETH and other universities develop this topic further.

Annual meeting actionuni – SNF

Events

Last November, actionuni representatives had their annual exchange meeting with SNF representatives. At the meeting, questions from actionuni members to the SNF are discussed and actionuni gives input to current development of the SNF.

This years main topics were:

  1. Mobility as a selection criterion is obsolete: The SNF agrees that geographical mobility of young researchers as a criterion to judge a researchers’ professional network has become outdated, considering the way researchers are connecting nowadays through digital ways and means. The SNF this year aims to revise the requirements of its funding instruments accordingly.
  2. Stronger promotion of Post-Docs: Influencing employment conditions of post-doctoral researchers towards more unlimited contracts or Tenure Track is not possible through SNF as these are within the universities’ own competencies.
  3. Centralized evaluation strategy of SNF funding applications, starting 2021: By using centralized remote or panel-evaluation, the SNF aims to standardize the assessment and selection of candidates. Consequently, local selection committees (Forschungskommissionen) will be abrogated.

actionuni participates prominently in AAQ Institutional Accreditation Day

Events

On 29 November 2018, the second AAQ Institutional Accreditation Day took place in Berne. The topic was “Quality concerns everyone! How participation is lived at Swiss higher education institutions”.

Salome Adam, co-president of actionuni (far right), at the podium

The program and presentations can be found online (DE / FR).

Continue reading actionuni participates prominently in AAQ Institutional Accreditation Day →

EURODOC Postdoc Survey – your voice matters

Events

How do you feel about your current job? What are your working conditions, your rights, your perspectives? Do you feel satisfied by your work-life balance?

With the goal to understand these and other issues, Eurodoc launches today a survey on postdocs working in Europe. The survey will investigate the challenges postdocs are confronted with in the current job market in Europe, working and living conditions, their expectations and perspectives on their careers.
Results will shed light on similarities and differences in how postdocs in different countries currently live and work from their perspective, with a specific focus on mobility, awareness of duties and rights, quality of life and well-being.

Whether you are a postdoc working in academia, in public administration, in an NGO or in the private sector, take part in the survey! It will take less than 10 minutes of your time, but your participation is really valuable and your answers will help improve Eurodoc policies on junior researchers.
Your voice matters!

Link: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/Postdoc_survey

Save-the-date: General Assembly 2018

Events, Internal

Actionuni’s next General Assembly will take place in Bern on June 7, 2018, 4:00-7:00 p.m.

Location: University of Bern
Building: UniS (Schanzeneckstrasse 1, Bern)
Room: A201

We are looking for candidates from all types of universities, in particular from Universities of Applied Sciences and urgently from Universities of Teacher Education for the following positions:

  • co-presidents
  • board member
  • Eurodoc-representative
  • SNF-representative
  • member of swissuniversities delegation “Teaching”

Please send your letters of interest to: president@actionuni.ch by 31 May 2018