The 25th Round Table Discussion for Junior Scholars, like the 24th Roundtable before it, will once more revolve around the upcoming election of the doctoral candidate representation. We want to explain the process, answer open questions and, most importantly, give all doctoral candidates an opportunity to organize and prepare for the election.

25^th Round Table
Topic: Representation of doctoral candidates
Date: September 29, 2023, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Format: Presence
Location: H 3013 ( Main Building Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin)

The 24^thRound Table Discussion for Junior Scholars revolved around the upcoming election of the doctoral candidate representation. We wanted to explain the process, answer open questions and, most importantly, give all doctoral candidates an opportunity to organize and prepare for the election.

24^th Round Table
Topic: Representation of doctoral candidates
Date: August 31, 2023, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Summary

23^rd Round Table Discussion for Junior Scholars on 16^th February 2023, 11:00-13:00 hrs.

Topic: Motherhood and academia in the pandemic – (in)compatibilities and ways out of the Corona Gap

The changes forced by the pandemic are not easy for anyone, but in particular scientists with children, and mothers especially, are struggling with the consequences. They have to take time off work, unpaid leave or even lose their jobs to look after children during school and daycare closures. While scientists have published an above-average number of papers since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of publications by mothers in science has fallen sharply. This also applies to the acquisition of external funding, the development of new research projects and attendance at conferences.

Using excerpts from their books “Mutterschaft und Wissenschaft. Die (Un-)Vereinbarkeit von Mutterbild und wissenschaftlicher Tätigkeit” (2020) and “Mutterschaft und Wissenschaft in der Pandemie. (Un-)Vereinbarkeit zwischen Kindern, Care und Krise“ (2022),Dr. Sarah Czerney and Dr. Lena Eckert gave insight into their research on the relationship between motherhood and science - especially during or shortly after a doctorate. Subsequently, the findings were discussed and ideas for ways out of the Corona Gap were developed together.

Summary​​​​​​​

22nd Round Table Discussion for Junior Scholars on 15 December 2022, 15:00-17:00 hrs.

Topic: Postdoc Academy

The Postdoc Academy and the various goals pursued by the Postdoc Academy were presented. Afterwards, the expectations, wishes and needs of the postdocs were discussed in detail with the participants.

Summary

On 1 April 2022, Prof. Dr. Sophia Becker was elected Vice President for Sustainability, Internal Communication, Transfer and Transdisciplinarity and also entrusted with the promotion of young scholars. Since direct exchange is very important to her, we have jointly decided to use two round tables to enter into an exchange with both groups, doctoral candidates and postdocs, and to talk about the current situation, goals and wishes.

21st Round Table Discussion for Junior Scholars on 07 July 2022, 15:00 - 16:30

Topic: Exchange with doctoral candidates

Vice President Prof. Dr. Sophia Becker used this round table for a direct exchange with doctoral candidates at TU Berlin. Three topics were discussed in the world café format:

• Supervision culture and doctorate conditions
• Working conditions - teaching, research, administration
• Further education and interdisciplinary networking opportunities

Summary

20th Round Table Discussion for Junior Scholars on 23 June 2022, 15:00 - 16:30

Topic: Exchange with postdocs

Vice President Prof. Dr. Sophia Becker used this round table for a direct exchange with the postdocs at TU Berlin. Three topics were discussed in the world café format:

• The general working situation
• The BerlHG (Higher Education Act by the Federal State of Berlin) amendment and its consequences
• Support and further training for postdocs

Summary