– Annual General meeting – The AGM of the federal association took place on November 30th in Göttingen, both in person and online. Despite initial connection problems, it was a productive meeting. Working groups and the Executive Council discussed future strategies. New doctoral representatives were confirmed, increasing representation to almost half of all German doctoral… Newsletter December 2024 weiterlesen

7.Dez.2024 – This year, we as the federal association invited all doctoral student representatives who are members of our association to our annual general meeting in Göttingen on November 30th. This hybrid meeting got off to a very constructive start, albeit with a few connection problems in the beginning. Many working groups and the Executive… Annual General Meeting 2024 in Göttingen weiterlesen

29.Nov.24 – The German Association of Doctoral Candidates works tirelessly to improve the rights and conditions early carrer scientist in Germany. Our work includes representation at the federal level, organizing network meetings and providing resources and advice for doctoral candidates. Becoming a supporting member of the Federal Association enables you to actively contribute to improving… Supportive membership: Empower the Federal Association of doctoral candidates! weiterlesen

27.Nov.24 – We are delighted to have gained a new member for the German Association of Doctoral Candidates: The Doctoral Council of the University of Lübeck contacted us some time ago and has now is now our next active member, until the final decision is made at the general meeting at the end of the… Strong together: PhDs of Lübeck joining us! weiterlesen

– Diversity dialogue: Kick-off meeting – The BMBF invited several groups to discuss plurality in science and actively supports the development of inclusive career paths. Maren Weissig, Equal Opportunities Officer, took part on our behalf. The opening dialog and the subsequent workshops aimed to be a space for exchange and dialogue, generating momentum for a… Newsletter November 2024 weiterlesen

15.Nov.24 – On November 12, 2024, the kick-off event of the dialog forum “Diversity creates knowledge: Every voice counts” took place at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in Berlin. Maren Weissig, Equal Opportunities Officer, took part on our behalf. The opening dialog and the subsequent workshops brought together experts from research, political… Dialog forum „Diversity“ in the BMBF – kick-off event weiterlesen

14.Nov.24 – The „Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz“ (WissZeitVG) regulates how doctoral candidates, post-docs and other academic staff may be employed. An amendment to the law has been in the works for two years. We, the Federal Association of Doctoral Candidates, have repeatedly voiced our criticism of the problematic WissZeitVG and have been trying to bring the position of… WissZeitVG – Experts criticize draft law weiterlesen

– Nobel Prizes – The nobel prices are out with a high focus on computational analysis of protein and RNA structures. The Nobel Prize in Physic went to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for discoveries which used tools from physics to work on machine learning helping to build artificial neural networks. The Nobel Prize in… Newsletter October 2024 weiterlesen

18.Sep.24 – Last year, we founded this federal association and dedicated ourselves to promoting science in Germany by supporting its most valuable resource: researchers. Our focus is particularly on doctoral students at public research institutions. Our initial projects include fundraising, building a network, and participating in the reform of the WissZeitVG. Our new working group… Our Strategies – a new working group! weiterlesen

16.04.2024 – This May the „Freie Universität Berlin“ is going to elect a doctoral council for a first time. This is a great development. In this context our very own Benita Schmitz (second spokesperson) was invited by campus.leben to discuss together with Markus Edler, the managing director of the Dahlem Research School of the “Freien… Interview campus.leben about the new doctoral council at FU Berlin weiterlesen

12.02.2024 – February 11th was designated as the „International Day of Women and Girls in Science“ by UNESCO on December 22th 2015. Worldwide, still only one in three people in science is a woman (see UNESCO Science Report, 2021). This means that women are still significantly underrepresented in science – and this is often particularly… International Day of Women and Girls in Science weiterlesen

Doctoral councils all over Germany met in Berlin at September 26th to found the German association of doctoral researchers („Bundesverband Promovierende e.V.“). The executive board around the two speakers Timo Eckstein (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg) and Benita Schmitz (Halle/Wittenberg) expressed the aim to fight for better working conditions for researchers in Germany. The newly formed association arises… PhDs of the Germany stand united! weiterlesen

Thanks to the contribution of our members, we were able to secure funds for hosting our own website, where you can find our official stances on relevant doctoral issues, our reports and documentation, as well as relevant news. This is also a channel where you can contact us, so let us know what do you… New website! weiterlesen

On June 28th 2023, the German network of doctoral researchers reached out to the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) and took up position concerning the changes in the WissZeitVG. The coalition of 31 doctoral representations demands a minimal contract length of six years, must-rulings instead of should-rulings, a compensation of the maximal contract… Position to the planned changes in the WissZeitVg weiterlesen