The latest information bulletin INFO-18 from our partners at swissfaculty is now online. It features an article written by former actionuni co-president Salome Adam on why we need structural improvements for mid-level staff employed at Swiss universities.
Election of the new actionuni board and representatives
On 13 May 2019 the General Assembly of actionuni der Schweizer Mittelbau elected a new tripartite co-presidency and a new board.
Congratulations to board members Isabel Bolliger, Alexey Evstratov, Carmen Faso, Rashmi Rai-Rawat and to our newly-acquired actionuni representatives Sophie Girardin and Cosima Locher!
The co-presidents Carmen Faso, Isabel Bolliger and Rashmi Rai-Rawat wish to thank all previous board members and especially former co-presidents Salome Adam and Suzana Atanasoski for the excellent work done over the past year.
Annual Report 2018/19
The Annual Report 2018/19 was published.
actionuni responded to the consultation on the new law for the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education (EHB)
The new law suggests that the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education is being recognized and accredited as a University of Teacher Education.
Our main feedback points were:
- The new law shall include a paragraph on securing the autonomy of the institution.
- Not only EHB will be active in vocational education, but shall do so in synergy with existing offers at existing Universities of Teacher Education.
- A paragraph on proper participation rights for staff and students of EHB must be introduced.
Read the full Vernehmlassungsantwort (German).
Save the date: General Assembly 2019
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
«Er deutet damit an, dass es an der ETH Zürich einen Kulturwandel geben wird.»
Salome Adam, co-president of actionuni, recognizes the positive intentions of ETH-president Joël Mesot in a recent interview with züriost. Joël Mesot publicly apologized “to those affected by the unprofessional conduct of their supervisors” and presents a set of measures to improve prevention, leadership and the handling of conflict situations.
Read the full article here (German only).
«Die komplexen Abhängigkeiten begünstigen Ausbeutung extrem»
Salome Adam, co-president of actionuni, was invited to comment in the Zürioberländer News on the recent cases of mobbing and plagiarism at EMPA, the independent materials, science and technology research institute of the ETH domain.
Salome states that the complex dependencies of young researchers from their professors aid to cases of exploitation. At EMPA, two professors are being accused of mobbing, inexplicable cases of dismissal of employees, and copying of material from Phd-theses for publication under their own name without citing of the original author(s).
Read the full article here (German only).
Les doctorants de Suisse réclament de meilleures conditions de travail
Maximilien Stauber, secretary general of ACIDUL, University of Lausanne, got interviewed on the recently released position paper of actionuni.
Maximilien claims that “It’s hard to get into a job if you know that potentially, in a year, or even three years, it will be over. These are unstable and often shifting positions. It is necessary all the time to move, one pushes you to do it for criteria of excellence. It’s complicated to manage.”
Read the full article at RTS (French only).
actionuni responded to the consultation on the new ETH legislation
actionuni has given feedback on the new ETH legislation. Our main points are:
- criticism on the plan to increase the flexibility concerning contract duration for PostDocs and Assistant Professors. A minimum of four years in the first contract should be ensured.
- salary equality within ETH needs to be ensured by the ETH-Rat, also in case of private third party funding.
- professors may be employed beyond retirement age. However, we demand a new (young) professor must be employed nevertheless.
- participation must be ensured and voting rights for delegates of the Hochschulversammlung sustained.
- if a new HR information system is being introduced, data must not be used for any other purposes (e.g. research) without consent of the employees.
- video surveillance data must not be used for other than its intended use.
Read the full Vernehmlassungsantwort (German).
actionuni in SRF Kontext – Forscherkarriere: Gefahr für Gesundheit und Wohlbefinden?
Salome Adam, co-president of actionuni, participated in a discussion with Prof. Aguzzi from University of Zurich on the misuse of power and mobbing at universities. Some real cases are reported but also ways are discussed of how pressure in research can be mitigated without compromising scientific quality.