In an ad hoc statement, Die Junge Akademie's Board takes a stand on the situation of advanced postdocs and group leaders in temporary positions in the German science system. In doing so, the Board refers to the Berlin Higher Education Act passed in September and the debate on the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz (German Act on Temporary Scientific Contracts) that has been ongoing since the summer under the hashtag #IchbinHanna.

For the members of the Board, the precarious situation of scientists resulting from fixed-term contracts represents a structural problem that has not been sufficiently addressed so far. Moreover, the associated risk of uncertain career paths would currently lie with individual scientists, but not with the institutions.

"In addition to the individual challenges that fixed-term appointments pose for individuals, even after the early postdoc phase, they also harm the German science system as a whole. These problems are well known and include, in particular, the reduced international competitiveness of the German science system," says Astrid EichhornAstrid Eichhorn, Speaker of the Board of Die Junge Akademie and a physicist at the University of Southern Denmark.

Finally, in its statement, Die Junge Akademie's Board calls for early career researchers themselves to be involved in structural decisions about career paths in science. An exchange on an equal footing is necessary, both for consultation processes and for legal framework conditions and their implementation at German universities and other scientific organizations.

Ad hoc statements are comments of Die Junge Akademie's Board on issues of science policy of current interest.

Information on the Board of Die Junge Akademie can be found here.