Janna Degener is a linguist and anthropologist. As a freelance journalist she is specialised in educational issues and she mainly writes for online publications including ABI, Goethe, Go-out and for German magazines such as Arbeitsmarkt or UNICUM. She also gives scientific and journalistic courses at universities including Universität zu Köln, Freie Universität Berlin and Leuphana Universität Lüneburg. She also produce radio and video content related to social projects and consumer interest topics.
Young scientists are expected to change country and jobs every few years on average to get a chance to progress their academic career. Mobility in science stems from a long tradition. It is favoured for bringing very enriching experiences. But post docs and their scientific work do not always benefit from mobility. Here, EuroScientist looks into how being on the move every few years affects the life of researchers and looks at ways of enhancing work/life balance. Read more [...]
EuroScientist, looks at existing and emerging solutions available to help refugee scientists rebuild their career in their host country, as they still have to face the demands of what remains a highly competitive activity. Read more [...]
The title of this article may sound like a self-help book. Yet, mentoring takes place spontaneously as part of the scientific process. Indeed, the concept of mentoring is as old as science itself as mentoring plays a very important role in the hierarchic scientific system. There, scientists are recommended by reputation. Yet evaluation procedures designed to be neutral are sometimes still overshadowed by the influence of the so-called “old boys' networks”. So what needs to happen? Read more [...]
Today, performing science has become a series of very well defined tasks divided between team members. Going one step further, some teams, bring support to help communicate the findings of the research via academic paper writing services. Here, we explore what brings researchers to avail of such services. One thing is sure, however, writing remains an inherent part of doing science. Read more [...]
The inadequacy of childcare policies across Europe, means that scientists who do not wish to be away from their lab for too long are struggling to balance their life as parents and as researchers. There are still some significant decisions concerning harmonisation of such childcare provision to be made in Europe, while further policy support would be welcome. Read more [...]
Fashion is not commonly associated with science and technology. However, there has always been a close connection between these fields. Exploring the way both fields have evolved, finding synergies, brings some interesting insights into how technology can have a direct influence on the way people live. But it could also impinge on their right to privacy. Read more [...]
There are a number of worldwide university rankings, which are often used as a guide for future education and career progression. These include, among others, the ranking of The Times Higher Education (THE), the QS World University Rankings, the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) , also known as the Shanghai Ranking, and the very recently launched U-Multirank, funded by the EU. While some few universities from Western Europe and North America still dominate most of these rankings, there is a trend for the emergence of young universities from newly-industrialised countries such as China and India. Read more [...]
On 9th of February 2014, the people of Switzerland voted in a referendum for the limitation of immigration from the European Union. Within three years, the government has to fix annual quota for asylum seekers and EU citizens interested in living in the country. In response, the EU has now suspended negotiations about the association of Switzerland to the European funding scheme Horizon 2020. Switzerland is heavily implicated in European research projects, which makes the referendum’s decision potentially disastrous for Swiss scientists. Read more [...]
Examples of men who are really interested beyond professional boundaries in one of their – often clearly younger – female colleagues are widespread. Typically, the men do not want to accept these women’s refusals and start harassing them. Often, the trouble is that the harassment is underhand. One difficulty is that there is a fine line between providing compliments and harassing someone, often due to cultural differences. Although women are mostly affected, men are also victims of sexual harassment. Read more [...]
Over the past 10 to 15 years, internationalisation has had a great impact on European universities. This development was assisted by the Bologna process. More and more universities offer trainings and project groups where scientists can talk about their experience and fictitious sample cases so that they might develop strategies to handle intercultural situations and to stimulate their students’ intercultural awareness. Read more [...]
Scientists often have to do several things simultaneously. But they should also try to establish work phases without disruptions, as multitasking has not proven to be the best way forward. This article provides suggestions on how best to schedule working time in order to be effective, and avoid the pitfalls of multitasking. Read more [...]
German scientists have been discussing whether their mother tongue still is (or should again become) an important international scientific language. Read more [...]
European science conversations by the community, for the community
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