Who we are

actionuni der Schweizer Mittelbau / actionuni le corps intermédiaire académique suisse / actionuni il collegio intermediario academico svizzero  represents young researchers as well as the associations of non-professorial academic staff of the Swiss cantonal universities, the Federal Institutes of Technology, the Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences, and the Swiss Universities of Teacher Education on the Swiss national as well as the international level. actionuni’s objectives are to improve the academic career tracks and to coordinate the activities of the Swiss associations of non-professorial academic staff.
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News

actionuni’s first Open Science Workshop held on 29 April 2021

networking activities, open science, Uncategorized

On 29 April 2021, actionuni held a 1.5-hour workshop online on Zoom in collaboration with MVUB (Mittelbauvereinigung Universität Bern), Eurodoc (European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers) and OILS (Open Innovation in Life Sciences).

Fifteen early-career researchers from the Universities of Bern, Lucerne, Zurich, Geneva and the ETH Zürich participated in the workshop. After a welcome address by co-president Rashmi Rai-Rawat, the presenter, actionuni board member Melanie Röthlisberger, gave a broad overview of Open Science practices with a particular focus on Open Access, covering topics such as routes to Open Access, its benefits and disadvantages, and national read-and-publish contracts in Switzerland. After introducing the main policy makers in Switzerland and their requirements and strategy, the participants then had to assemble information on structural conditions around Open Science at their own institution, such as the existence of Open Science Policies, (financial) support for Open Science, and name of the institutional repository. Despite the small number of participants, discussions were lively and in-depth political, showcasing the high interest that early-career researchers have in the impact of open science policies and the changing publishing landscape on their academic work.

 

Open Science: an info online lunch talk organised by actionuni

Events, networking activities
What is Open Science and why is it important to fully understand its benefits and potential limitations, especially for ECRs?
Join us for our online event on Thursday 29. April, over lunch, for a chance to ask your questions and inform yourself on this important topic.
Register here by the 26th of April to receive the link to join the seminar online.
This event is organised in collaboration with mvub, eurodoc and OILS!

Disrupted Mobilities, Disrupted Careers: a covid19 blog series by nccr-on the move

Position paper, Position papers and press releases

We gladly receive this notification and encourage everyone to check this blog out here

In the authors’ words:

“The blog series assembles contributions by young social scientists, some based in Switzerland, others abroad. The contributions cover a variety of topics ranging from the practical challenges related to conducting transnational fieldwork during COVID-19 to mental health and equal opportunity concerns raised by the pandemic. In the concluding post, we synthesize these findings and compare them to studies with a broader disciplinary scope conducted by the Career Tracker Cohorts Study, the journal nature and the academic publishing house De Gruyter. We also refer to results derived from a survey conducted among the 42 doctoral and PostDoc fellows funded by the nccr – on the move”.

Food for thought-Avuba’s 2020 postdoc snapshot

Press release, Resources and documents

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…..

A firm, friendly and transparent pact for career development of researchers

Position paper, Position papers and press releases

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. “

Graduate Campus UZH-Workshop on “The Legal Aspects of Open Science”

Events

We gladly post this announcement by our colleagues at the Graduate Campus-UZH

Dear doctoral candidates and postdocs,

The Graduate Campus and the Data Services & Open Access Team of the University of Zurich are offering an online workshop on legal aspects of Open Science that is open to all junior researchers from Swiss higher education institutions.

When it comes to Open Science, one of the most common uncertainties in sharing publications and data openly is the legal framework. What can or cannot be shared? What licenses can be applied? Who owns the copyright to my article or dataset?

As a follow-up event to the Summer School “Yes, We’re Open!” hosted by the University of Zurich last August, a virtual workshop on “The Legal Aspects of Open Science” will take place on February 5, 2021 (9:00 – 13:00). Like the Summer School, this workshop is open to all doctoral students and postdocs of all Swiss universities, universities of applied sciences and universities of teacher education, as well as of all academic disciplines. It is led by CCdigitallaw and covers topics such as copyright, Creative Commons licenses and data protection, and it introduces the DMLawTool (Data Management Law Tool).

Participation in the workshop is not bound to participation in the Summer School or any other prior knowledge, and it is free of charge. You may register at the following link: https://www.openscience-summerschool.uzh.ch/en.html

New actionuni board and delegate

Events, Internal

On 29 September 2020, the General Assembly of actionuni der Schweizer Mittelbau renewed its board with a new co-president and new delegate to the SNSF.

Congratulations to our new co-president Martina von Arx and to our newly-acquired actionuni SNSF delegate Prabitha Urwyler!

Co-presidents Carmen Faso and Rashmi Rai-Rawat wish to thank all previous board members including Alexey Evstratov and Isabel Bolliger. Special thanks to Katharina Prautsch for her invaluable service as SNSF delegate board member and to Lauriane Nallet-Khosrofian and former co-president Salome’ Adam for their dedication as social media officers.

The new board will meet in early December.

 

Shaping Research Culture-a timely discussion

Events, networking activities
The Graduate Campus UZH together with Life Science Zurich we are organising an online event called “Shaping Research Culture”, specifically tailored for the Life Sciences, on the 5th Nov. With this event we aim to engage in an open discussion on the values of our research culture and ways to shape that culture.  
 
The event is structured in two parts:
1. The workshop (13:00-15:15)
Designed to apply system’s-level thinking in order to inspire new ideas about what an ideal research culture could look like. This could be both in terms of big systems change, for example around the way research is funded or how knowledge is communicated, and in terms of small changes applicable today. The workshop will happen in break-out rooms of about 6 participants.
2. The Panel discussion (15:30-17:30)
The ideas generated through the workshop will be a starting point for our discussion with the panelists.
You can register to attend either the full event or only the panel discussion.