Prolongations are necessary for all who have been unable to study and work as expected. Anything short of this is clearly unfair.
actionuni has teamed up with VSS-UNES and the labour union VPOD-SSP for a joint press release on the topic of extensions and prolongations for students and mid-level staff.
Please follow the link to the press release and keep an eye on our Twitter page!
Our member from the University of Basel, avuba, has just published a comprehensive survey of UniBasel postdocs, carried out in 2020, a year we are unlikely to forget.
The data is impressive and shows how much change is needed for mid-level staff, and specifically postdoc, employment, support and promotion.
An overview of the datasets in German or in English and the survey itself and a summary of results in German and English are now publicly available. Talk of food for thought…..
The Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers was published in September 2019 as a follow-up to the first concordate published in 2008. This document is the result of collaborative work including diverse stakeholders with an interest in research and researchER development. Although UK-targeted , it is highly translatable to pretty much all European countries, so we think there may be lots to be inspired by!
In their own words:
” This revised Concordat recognises the critical role of research and innovation in delivering the UK’s ambitious economic and industrial strategies, and aims to set the gold standard in researcher development and use it as a competitive advantage. ”
Here at actionuni we all hope your 2021 started serenely!
In 2020 , actionuni was involved in a OECD-driven project to analyse the current situation of precariousness in academic research. Data was then presented at a workshop in late November.
In Switzerland, 80% of highly-qualified academic staff is on precarious contracts.
A wealthy, education-driven society like Switzerland can do better!
If you agree
, please sign the petition for more stable jobs in academia here!
And share the petition through Facebook and Twitter and whatever other channel you wish to use.
The SNSF has adopted the DORA recommendations in its career funding schemes and adapted some other criteria. Follow this link to see how the SNSF intends to evaluate academic performance in a more equilibrated manner.
Our partners at Eurodoc contributed to the latest and official publication from Science Europe on Recommendations on Research Assessment processes.
This is guaranteed to be a fascinating read! Hover over the text for all links.
Please follow this link to read this sobering research article from Australia where the authors “….found that 75% of students expect to experience financial hardship as a result of the pandemic. Consequently , 45% report being pushed beyond their financial capacities and expect to be forced to disengage from their research within six months. Comparative pre-COVID data from an Australian national survey, reports research student disengagement of 20% over four years. The 25% increase of expected disengagement, in a much-reduced period, signals a deeper PhD crisis. Swift intervention is required to avert substantial impacts to the pipeline of research talent.”
Follow this link to fill out Nature’s new postdoctoral survey!
The accompanying article can be found here.