Last June’s Frauenstreik marked a historical chapter in the constant struggle towards equality in academic environments.
Where is this leading us and which measures are now necessary to maintain momentum towards driving change towards equal opportunities for all?
Come and join men and women in sharing viewpoints and perspectives on Friday 27. March , in the main building of UniBern, for the event:
“Geschichten des Gelingens_Flyer”
Mental health in academic working environments has become an increasingly important topic of discussion over the past few years. This issue is especially relevant to mid-level staff since it is almost inevitably associated with career precariousness, unhealthy pressure to perform and lack of long-term perspectives.
Please follow this link to an op-ed published by our colleagues at the University of Neuchatel on Le Temps.
Further reading on this perspective can be found in this excellent article published on the Tribune de Geneve.
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.
Fresh off the press from The Guardian, the article reports on how UK academic institutions have created a pool of underpaid researchers and lecturers with little to no prospects of permanent employment and adequate retribution. This effectively creates a mass of highly-educated albeit abused academic workers who have voiced their anger and dismay.
For the full report, please click here.
An exciting opportunity for networking and mentoring for mid-level academics has been developed by the Swiss Academies of Science.
The Swiss Young Academy gives young researchers the opportunity to carry out inter- and transdisciplinary projects. With their dedication and contributions, members pursue the early identification of challenges facing society, provide solutions for these challenges, and foster a dialogue between science and society.
The Swiss Young Academy offers its members the following benefits:
Swissuniversities released this statement concerning its ongoing negotiations with major academic publishers for the promotion and adoption of open access practices
The 2019 round of negotiations between swissuniversities and Elsevier, Springer-Nature and Wiley came to an end on 13 December 2019. The results are as follows:
The non-renewal of the contract with Springer Nature could at some point imply a lack of access to works published after January 2020 (previous publications will remain accessible). However, it is worth noting that researchers from Dutch and German universities have continued to have access to publications in the past, despite facing a similar contract discontinuation situation. Furthermore, swissuniversities argues that experience abroad has shown that the publication of research results is guaranteed even without a contract.
The worst-case scenario would certainly limit the access to literature but should not fundamentally hinder your research and teaching activities. Indeed, a series of options exist that provide access to scientific resources. swissuniversities has compiled a list in collaboration with the consortium of Swiss university libraries and is available as a factsheet. swissuniversities points out that “the illegal clandestine library Sci-Hub is not mentioned, even if its private use is authorised in Switzerland”.
Follow the link to view this great resource!
University.Now! is an event organized by our member ACIDUL at the UNiversity of Lausanne from 5-6. December 2019.
Please find more information on this important event dedicated to the future and perspectives for mid-level staff in Switzerland by following this link.
Heidi.news is a new information portal that often focuses on the world at large of scientific research in Switzerland. Amongst others, actionuni co-President Carmen Faso was interviewed by journalist Sophie Gaitzsch on the status of precarious researchers at Swiss universities, the numbers, the challenges and possible solutions.
Read the interview here
A recent article in one of Germany’s leading newspapers Die Zeit on why it is important to not only support but just generally show respect to early career researchers.