Give PhDs and Postdocs better conditions

The proportion of PhDs and postdocs at the universities has grown significantly in recent years, and our contribution to both research and teaching is significant. But the involvement of this group of employees in the inner life of the university has not kept up with the development. This must change.

Numerous examples show how there are problems with exploitation of this workforce in several places. We, like Involve the Researchers!, want better checks and balances and conditions for the protection of a group at the university that is easy to exploit.

READ ALSO: #Pleasedontstealmywork: New campaign to stop the theft of research

Therefore, we have created the list ‘Involve PhDs and Postdocs!’ which is a support list for ‘Involve the Researchers!’. We will fight for better conditions for PhDs and postdocs.

Give us a collaborative forum

We aim to establish a forum of collaboration with Involve the Researchers where PhDs and postdocs can shape the agendas that affect our everyday lives.

A concrete step we want to work on is to give PhD students greater influence on their education. We want them to have the opportunity to manage the compulsory courses, including subject-specific teaching courses.

In addition, we will anchor HR locally at the institutes, which will ensure faster case processing and rejections, so that we avoid unnecessary bureaucracy.

Better conditions for temporary researchers

Stress is one of the most recurring challenges among PhDs and postdocs.

We will review the existing options for reporting harassment

This can be difficult to avoid, but much can be done. Specifically, we will work for better opportunities for extensions of the PhD study for students who are employed without external grants.

We will review the existing options for reporting harassment and work for an independent review body that always has PhDs and postdocs to look at each case.

We want to ensure that our voices are heard and valued, and that all PhD students get a certain degree of research freedom, so that we avoid that the research is controlled externally.

Let us thrive and be involved

Despite a significant growth in the number of PhDs and postdocs at the university, the structures have not kept up. We want to integrate PhDs and postdocs organizationally in relevant committees, including local collaboration committees and working environment committees.

We believe in an inclusive and fair university culture, where every single researcher – regardless of employment – has the opportunity to thrive and contribute to research on their own terms.

These three themes are in accordance with the 12-point election program of ‘Involve the Researchers!’. Together we run and hope for your support to create a more dynamic and inclusive university environment.

READ ALSO: Please vote, and preferably for ‘Involve the researchers!’

Vote for ‘Involve PhDs and Postdocs!’ or ‘Involve the Researchers!’ – for a university structure that involves all researchers.