Young scientists attraction for sustainable development
Many PhD students are willing to turn towards the broad field of sustainable development and renewable energies. Read more [...]
Career
Section describing the real issues affecting scientists careers in Europe today
Does mobility boost early scientific careers?
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 [...]
Where does scientists’ inspiration stem from?
Are scientists inspired? Where and how do they get their most pressing concerns? What fuels their innermost motivations? Is it a requirement for them to be inspired? In this insightful opinion piece, Francisco Azuaje, a senior researcher at the Luxembourg Institute of Health shares his thoughts on one of the tenets of scientific endeavour. His perspective may inspire others to comment on what makes the scientific discovery process so exciting? Read more [...]
Quota or no quota
The issues women in science face are not new. Solutions borrowed from the corporate world or the field of politics such as quota could be a solution. There are also many more options to try and move the line between genders. EuroScientist would like to know what its readers think about quota. Could they challenge the quality of academic work? Read more [...]
Gender bias: a ladder made for men
Gender bias, whether conscious or unconscious affects women at each level of academia. In this exploratory piece, EuroScientist explore the factors driving such bias and looks for solutions to remedy them. Find out more by reading the view of experts from across Europe and decide for yourself about the type of interventions that have been implemented to fight gender bias. Read more [...]
Progressive policies to improve the gender balance in scientific research
The Irish funding agency, Science Foundation Ireland, is at the forefront of progressive policies designed to improve gender balance in the research they fund. These policies have gradually been introduced to respond to a need to ensure that excellence--and not whether they are having children--is the only criteria determining women's chance of being funded. In this opinion piece, SFI's Fiona Blighe explains how the various schemes in place work. Read more [...]
Entrepreneurship: the ‘she’ factor
In this opinion piece, Polish entrepreneurship expert Agnieszka Klucznik-Törő shares her view on how female entrepreneurship is changing across Europe. She argues that understanding it better is paramount in devising suitable support mechanisms for women involved. She refers to the on-line resource developed under the EU-funded WINGS project as an example of suitable solutions to help women entrepreneurs tackle typical challenges they face. Read more [...]
Is the European science community open to help refugees?
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 [...]
Why do self-made women rely on mentors?
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 [...]
Does Science 2.0 foster greater academic freedom?
Academic freedom, which confers scientists some autonomy on how they wish to conduct research and to teach has been gradually eroded as research has increasingly become more of an industry, managed like a business. Now, there is some hope that some of the biases introduced in this process could soon be alleviated thanks to open science. But it may be too soon to realise what the actual implications are. Read more [...]
Writing services for academics on the rise
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 [...]
Should PhDs accept to have a mere student status?
Some of the rights and benefits of being considered as an employee could soon be swept from under the feet of many Dutch PhDs. A new proposal by Dutch Labour Party Minister Jet Bussemaker has reignited a long term debate on the subject. The move, backed by universities, is considered by researchers’ organisations as depriving PhDs of many rights and benefits. This shows that for every step forward in helping the working conditions of scientists —among others, through the introduction, ten years ago, of the European Charter for Researchers— it is only too easy to slide backwards, according to an opinion piece by Eurodoc president, John Peacock. Read more [...]
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