Full speed ahead for fixed-term contracts
Improvements for junior researchers
Dieser Artikel in Deutsch
The funding has to be assured so that young scientist may focus completely on their work (Foto: GSF / Bernd Müller 2006).
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Light on the horizon for academics in Germany: at last they will be able to get fixed-term positions after the qualifying period, too. On two conditions: the fixed-term positions must (1) be financed from third-party funding and (2) the tasks involved must be clearly defined.
So far, it was theoretically possible to give fixed-term positions to academics who had already been part of the science system for some time and had completed their qualifying period, but the universities were hesitant to make use of it, fearing legal action for permanent positions under labour law. Junior researchers with no prospects of getting a professorship or permanent position in Germany found themselves faced with zero job opportunities in German academic establishments once their first 12 or 15 working years had come to an end. Result: Lots of them went abroad and were lost to the German science system.
The new Fixed-term Research Contracts Act, which came into force on 18 April 2007, now makes it easier for researchers to continue working in projects based on third-party funding, even at German universities. As well as this, the regulations defining the qualifying period are becoming more family-friendly: anyone caring for children during the qualifying period is eligible to extend his or her fixed-term employment during this period by two years per child.
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