AWMF fears that the planned change in the law on fixed-term employment will worsen the situation for young scientists
14.08.2023 13:43
Offering attractive career prospects to young scientists in biomedicine and the academic health professions is a central concern of the Association of Scientific Medical Societies (AWMF). She therefore supports the initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to change the law on fixed-term employment for scientists. However, in a statement on the currently available draft bill, the AWMF, as the umbrella organization of 182 scientific medical societies, warns that the situation for young talent could deteriorate further if changes in university funding are not agreed with the states in advance.
The fact that young scientists often have to spend many years moving from one temporary employment contract to the next is detrimental to their personal careers and motivation as well as to scientific progress as a whole. “We support the BMBF’s concern to create more reliability and planning for young scientists, especially after their doctorate. However, we see considerable risks in the proposed changes in the present draft bill,” emphasizes Professor Dr. Rolf-Detlef Treede, President of the AWMF.
More permanent positions at universities
In the opinion of the AWMF, the aim should be to create more permanent positions at universities for defined tasks for mid-level academics and thus better future prospects for young academics. But for this to happen, the states would have to fulfill their educational mandate and create framework conditions to make this possible. “One thing is certain: If a fundamental change in university funding is not agreed with the states in advance, the planned change in the law cannot have a positive effect. On the contrary,” explains Professor Dr. Renate Deinzer, AWMF board member. Since such measures have not yet been planned, the AWMF fears, in view of the draft bill that is now available, that the situation for young talent will deteriorate even further and that there may be employment opportunities for fewer postdocs in the future, for example.
Many third-party funded projects do not lead to self-employment
Even with temporary positions financed by third-party funds, exactly the opposite of what is intended could happen. Many third-party funded projects allow you to gain further qualifications as a doctoral student or postdoc, but do not lead to self-employment because the researcher cannot appear as an applicant themselves. This is only possible for state positions, which are therefore primarily needed in the late qualification phase. “We see the risk that qualified young scientists can only continue to be employed in employment relationships financed by third-party funds if the time limit for qualification is to be given priority,” warns Professor Dr. Dr. Henning Schliephake, deputy AWMF president. This means that fewer young talents would have the chance to establish themselves permanently in university science.
The positions of 18 of its member companies were included in the current AWMF statement. In total, the AWMF represents 182 medical scientific societies and thus the interests of 300,000 members. The paper also discusses the proposed changes to the regulation of employment during studies and the crediting of part-time work towards the duration of the fixed-term contract.
The AWMF's current statement on the Federal Ministry of Education and Research's draft bill for a law to change the law on fixed-term employment in science can be found here: https://www.awmf.org/fileadmin/user_upload/dateien/stellungnahmen/2023/20230703_AWMFStellungnahme_WissZVGBefristung_fin.pdf