I had the chance to speak directly with the new President of the #Helmholtz Association yesterday, and, wow...

In essence, I asked the tired question about long-term employment prospects for PhDs and Postdocs.

The answer I got was (paraphrased) "Excellent scientists get excellent jobs, so if you strive to do excellent work you will get what you need"

No honest words about our murky system of promotion, the #WissZeitVG, a self-defeating publish-or-perish culture, etc etc.

This reflects either 1) a true belief that "the cream rises to the top", and promotion in science is merit-based, or 2) a blind spot to our structural and cultural problem(s). I don't know which is worse.

#Science #ECRchat #PublishOrPerish

How to stop the revolving door of German academia 🎓

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03850-7

#IchbinHanna #wisszeitvg
#ecrchat #academia

"#FridayHumour: Useful abbreviations for the time-pressed on-line reader. #PhDchat #ECRchat #PhDForum #academicchatter @tomgauld“

(Hugh Kearns - https://x.com/ithinkwellHugh/status/1522554410446073859)

Can a system that uses trainees as labour be fair?

In Voices, Fátima Sancheznieto unpacks the blurred line between training and exploitation, and what needs to change in how we value scientific work.

Listen now: https://elife-container.pubpub.org/community-voices-episode-7?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic
#ECRChat #ResearchCulture #PhDChat