FINDING AND STARTING A NEW SCIENCE/ACADEMIC JOB IN A COVID-19 WORLD: THERE IS HOPE!
COVID-19 has upended most of life as we know it, including searching for a new role in science or academic. But, there is hope. Read more [...]
Career
Section describing the real issues affecting scientists careers in Europe today
Best practices and success principles for PhD students and early career researchers
Throughout graduate studies, it is important to maintain a good relationship with your supervisor, while doing impactful publishing, building up a network to leverage your work, and a myriad of other small things that are vital for your future career. Read more [...]
Updating the culture of academia
Do you love science but are unhappy with the culture in academia?
As a PhD student, postdoc or lab leader (PI), do you feel like your mental health may be suffering because of problems in the system?
Do you think your lab could be managed more efficiently? Read more [...]
Story of a 15-year old scientist: How it all began
Zuzana Hudáčová, a 15-year old student from Slovakia, has always liked to go to labs and make experiments when she had free time. Read more [...]
The hidden knowledge
In a scientific world where there are too many candidates for the scarce positions and funds, recruitment became extremely demanding. With the needed ambition to publish more impactful stories, scientists often choose not to publish smaller projects. But is that really important? And, if so, can we foresee some solutions? These are some the questions we discuss in the present article. Read more [...]
Publications in academic research: Publish with a ‘Purpose’ and not just in the fear to ‘Perish’
To publish a number of articles at a very early stage cannot be a direct way to measure one’s ability and interest to do research later in time. Read more [...]
Need career advice? Seek help from a Science Professional
The truth about the scientific field is it’s segregated, disjointed and impersonal. We spend years in higher education to end up widely on our own to figure out our career path. We can cold call or blindly send emails in hopes of connecting to someone Read more [...]
Male elementary school teachers in extinction. The gender gap and the feminisation of elementary schools
Gender discrimination and stereotyping issues have taken an appreciable attention the last decades by media and research, leading to policy reformations and even to legislation amendments in respect to equality. Despite that, stereotypes are still apparent and in certain cases robust. In other words, stereotypes seem to be profound about certain jobs. A man will choose from a fixed set of masculine careers to make his living, and women will have to choose from another fixed set of feminine careers to make her living. One occupation that is suffering from gender imbalance in the EU is elementary school teacher. In this article is discussed the gender gap of teaching staff in primary schools in the EU. Read more [...]
The “Lost Generation” of European Scientists: How can we make the system more sustainable?
The "Lost Generation" refers to the growing cohort of senior post-doctoral researchers and other scientists who, after completing short-term contracts and temporary positions, find themselves excluded from research careers due to the lack of opportunities for permanent research positions. This cohort must contend with a ‘game’ whose rules no longer apply in today’s overcrowded and hyper-competitive research environment. Often, the difficulty in obtaining a full-time research position is further exacerbated by geographical, social, and familial constraints, and a lack of transferable skills that would enable a career switch. The loss of these highly trained individuals to our research institutions and to industry creates instability and represents an inefficient use of human talent and financial resources. Although the problem is not new, it is a critical issue and more needs to be done to address the needs of this cohort. Our goal is to launch a discussion with all relevant stakeholders toward actionable ideas to these systemic problems. Read more [...]
Family Friendly Research to boost Science Careers of Women
The balance between professional and personal life plays a key role for successful careers of European researchers, especially for women scientists. As far as employment and reconciliation of work and life are concerned, female employment rates remain low especially in Southern Europe and East Europe and in general even more for women with low education. Antidiscrimination laws have been adopted, but gender gaps are still large. Lack of child care services and care facilities for the elderly combined with rigid work arrangements make it hard to reconcile work and family life. Read more [...]
How implicit bias can undermine academic meritocracy
The League of European Research Universities, LERU, has just published a paper pertaining to gender bias in academia. In this opinion piece, Jadranka Gvozdanovic, professor of Slavic studies and rector’s envoy for equal opportunities at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, who is also chair of LERU’s thematic group on gender and Katrien Maes, deputy-secretary-general of LERU, share their opinion on the much needed measures to counter gender bias in research institutions. Read more [...]
Predictions for the lab of the future
There are so many innovations waiting to serve scientists that it is quite incredible they have not been adopted sooner. In this insightful opinion piece, Simon Bungers, co-founder of labfolder, an electronic laboratory notebook for researchers, outlines his vision on how scientists' lives will be transformed by wider adoption of solutions supported by artificial intelligence and the emergence of the likes of blockchain-based solutions to gain greater data reproducibility. Read more [...]
EuroScientist journal 