EMPOWERING YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN EUROPE: ENGAGEMENT AND PARTICIPATION PROGRAMME Eurodoc Conference 2015 Plenary session 2 – Priorities of Member Organisations at the National Level: Case Examples The focus of the session is on priorities Eurodoc member organisations are currently addressing at the national level. Such priorities are often informed by specific politic or economic backgrounds like the ones concerning the ongoing economic crisis and austerity measures that led to a series of cuts in R&D or higher education institutions across Europe. These cuts had a direct impact on working conditions of early stage researchers (ESRs), and the work of Eurodoc’s Portuguese and Italian members will provide an insight into how researchers are trying to address the issues, and ensure they have access to adequate working conditions. Reforms in R&D and higher education systems and institutions also have direct impacts in the circumstances of doctoral candidates (DCs) and junior researchers (JRs). The German case example will illustrate how they are addressing the challenges stemming from the growth and diversification of PhD programmes and of institutions awarding the degree. Lastly, the presentations from Ukraine and Croatia will show how Eurodoc’s Ukraine and Croatian members are responding to a series of social, economic or political reforms in the country, and working to ensure that ESRs rights and interests are safeguarded. 1. Challenges and Perspectives of Early Stage Researchers in Ukraine: The Priorities for the Council of Young Scientists, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine Iulia Ovchynnykova & Iryna Degtyarova – RMU (Ukraine) Nowadays Ukraine is facing a number of really complicated challenges due to a hard socio‐political situation and to ongoing transformations in all spheres of public life, and particularly in the national system of higher education. A new Law on Higher Education came into force, and a number of new legislative acts were initiated. What is their effectiveness? What is their impact on early stage researchers (ESRs)? The presentation considers these and other relevant questions that bring into focus: 1) The Council of Young Scientists (RMU) mission and framework; 2) How RMU addresses these questions at the national, regional and institutional level (e.g., the economic crisis and its impact on ESRs; complicated proposals regarding the awarding of academic degrees and titles, how to mobilise academic staff, primarily ESRs; changes in pension regulations, dissmissal of „old professors”); 3) The 5 main pillars of RMU’s activities in order to fulfil its mission and aims: strengthening of institutional capacity; advisory and expert activities for the development of legislation in higher education and science; lobbying for the interests of ESRs at the national level; constant circulation of information, and counselling; events and other activities. 2. Perspectives for Croatian Young Scientists: From the Balkans to the EU Sanjin Marion – MLAZ (Croatia) Croatia, the latest addition to the European community, has an economy that has been in a downward spiral for several years with unemployment rates rising beyond control. National spending on R&D is well below the European level and dropping. In this climate, the last several years have been marked by various attempts to reform the doctoral candidate and junior researcher system. We analyse the effects these changes have had on Croatian young researchers from both a socio‐economic and academic viewpoint. Perspectives for future PhDs in academia, private and public sectors are discussed alongside with our National organisations activities. Activities, both planned and existing, for enhancing the employability of young PhDs outside academia will be examined. 2. What Future for Science and Scientists in Portugal? Problems and Proposals Ana Hasse & Ivo Neto – ABIC (Portugal) ABIC ‐ Associação dos Bolseiros de Investigação Científica is the Portuguese Association that represents Early Stage Researchers (ESRs), such as doctoral candidates, post‐doc candidates and other researchers who are grant‐holders. Formed in 2003, ABIC has been working with the National Governments and with the main funding agencies in order to improve the working conditions of ESRs in Portugal. Facing an extreme financial crisis, with implications in all sectors of society, Science in Portugal has suffered a regression, affecting the admission of new researchers and the working conditions of the ESRs working on on‐going projects. Matters such as social insurance, precarious work, scientific employment, Statute of the Research Fellow and the irregularities in the national grant contests, are being discussed between ESRs and the main stakeholders. Thus, ABIC developed several activities to highlight the problems faced by ESRs and Scientific Centres and the possible consequences for the future of Science in Portugal. In the last year, the initiative Open Letter, with the support from Eurodoc, advocated for dignified working conditions for all researchers. Currently, ABIC is presenting an Advocacy Letter all over the country, demanding, among other issues, the professionalization of all scientific workers, formalized in an employment contract. With this communication we aim to present some of the problems faced by ESRs in Portugal, and the initiatives organized to sensitise and raise awareness of the scientific community. 3. #finoaquando#: 2014 ADI Commitment for Italian PhD Candidates and Young Researchers Fabiana Dimpflmeier – ADI (Italy) During 2014, ADI committed on two main fronts: a) overcome the existence of PhD Candidates without scholarships; b) simplify the wide variety of pre‐full time/permanent academic positions existing in Italy (such as Post‐Docs and fixed‐term Researchers ‐ called RTDa and RTDb). On the first point, ADI stressed above all the iniquities of the taxation of Doctoral Candidates without scholarship, promoting a motion in the National Council of University Students (CNSU), and effectively managing in abolishing taxes in some universities (such as Lecce and Sassari). Secondly, since October 2014 ADI is promoting a general mobilization of precarious Young Researchers (called the "#finoaquando#" Campaign) which is opposing the weakening of tenure‐track positions contemplated by the Italian "Stability Law" 2015. The initiative had a high resonance in contemporary Italian press debate, and saw the President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano as partaker. The #finoaquando# Campaign culminated in a series of parliamentary meetings, prompting the Italian Government to partially revise the law. 4. PhD training at German Research Institutions that have No Right to Award Doctorates: Policy Issues and Recommendations Anna Tschaut & Claudia Dobrinski – THESIS (Germany) While doctoral candidates (DCs) working at universities can usually rely on an environment that provides adequate support for their doctorate, early stage researchers (ESRs) at universities of applied sciences (UAS) and non‐university research institutes face the problem of conducting their research in organisations that do not have the right to award doctorates. They can obtain their doctorate only in collaboration with a university, which poses different challenges to the DCs, their supervisors and the organisations. In Germany, approx. 12’000 DCs are working at non‐
university research institutions and there is a growing number of DCs at UAS. Meanwhile the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) has recognised the need of providing clear career paths also for ESRs not working at a university and is expected to publish recommendations for ESRs at UAS this year. Therefore, Thesis e.V. as independent organisation representing DCs in Germany engages in analysing these DCs’ needs and expectations, and develops corresponding recommendations from the ESRs’ perspective. Among others, we stress the importance of written agreements between DCs and supervisors as well as between the employing and the awarding institutions right from the beginning of the doctorate. Differences between UAS and non‐university research institutions and the respective specific needs of ESRs are discussed in the presentation.