Press releases
Whether it is new and groundbreaking research results, university topics or events 鈥� in our press releases you can find everything you need to know about the happenings at 51猎奇. To subscribe, just send an email to ott@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de
51猎奇 PR & Communication Department聽
Theodor-W.-Adorno Platz 1
60323 Frankfurt
presse@uni-frankfurt.de
Oct
25
2022
11:35
The "Rhine-Main Universities" (RMU) Strategic Alliance
A space full of opportunities
Held on October 24, 2022, the fourth "Day of the Rhine-Main Universities" focused on scientists in their early career phases as well as the academic mid-level faculty. Opening up more opportunities for them is one of the core concerns of the Strategic Alliance of Rhine-Main Universities (RMU).
Following two
years of pandemic, the annual 鈥淒ay of the Rhine-Main Universities" was this
year once again held in presence. In the preceding two years, the meetings were
hosted digitally: first in 2020 by the Technical University of Darmstadt, and
last year by the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. In other respects, too,
the event, which drew several hundred participants from Hesse and
Rhineland-Palatinate, went back to its pre-pandemic roots: As in 2019, Goethe
University Frankfurt hosted the annual meeting on its Westend Campus, welcoming
employees as well as RMU members and friends.
In previous
years, the focus lay on the potential of the cross-federal state alliance
(2019), teaching and learning (2020) as well as research (2021). This year, the
RMU Day centered on scientists in their early career phases and the
"academic mid-level staff". "Winning over these talents for the long
term and upskilling hem significantly enriches every university, strengthening
and sharpening its profile as well as its future viability," Goethe
University President Prof. Dr. Enrico Schleiff emphasized in his welcoming
speech.
In two
concise "Impulses from Politics", Ayse Asar, State Secretary in the
Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts, and Dr. Denis Alt, State Secretary in
the Ministry of Science and Health of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate,
underlined the importance of promoting and supporting young scientists.
"The future of science lies in networking and in alliances that optimally
combine the strengths of individual scientific institutions. This is exactly where
the three RMU universities are leading the way," said Ayse Asar, adding
that, "They unite almost 10,000 scientific employees, especially doctoral
students and postdocs, who are the main focus at this year's RMU Day. Without
this academic mid-level staff, the universities would not be the same. That is
why smart personnel development, as well as comprehensive support,
qualification and advisory structures are so highly relevant. At the federal
government level, we are supporting the universities both financially and
structurally, including, for example, with opportunities for new career paths 鈥�
such as the qualification professorship, the tenure track, or the tandem
professorship 鈥� offered under the Hessian Higher Education Act, which was amended
in 2021. The 'Code for Good Work' was drawn up the same year. In it, the
universities commit themselves to new standards for better and more attractive
working conditions."
Dr. Denis
Alt, State Secretary in the Ministry of Science and Health of the State of
Rhineland-Palatinate, emphasized: "The Rhine-Main Universities Strategic
Alliance, with the partner universities in Frankfurt, Darmstadt and Mainz, is
an important building block for raising the region's national and international
profile in a differentiated scientific landscape. Together, these three strong
research universities can further advance the Rhine-Main region as a science
engine, benefiting not only the universities, but also the federal states of Hesse
and Rhineland-Palatinate. The scientific successes of recent years 鈥� in the
joint acquisition of third-party funding, for instance 鈥� prove that the universities
are on the right track. We want to do everything in our power to support
them."
In her
keynote address, Prof. Dr. Marlis Hochbruck of the Karlsruhe Institute of
Technology (KIT), and former vice president of the German Research Foundation (Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), also put the promotion of early-career scientists
at the "center of science(s)".
At the same
time, however, it also became clear that the early career years of scientists
are by no means characterized only by hope and a sense of optimism: At this
stage of their lives, many scientists feel particularly burdened by economic
uncertainty, the question of whether an existing or future family can be
reconciled with a career, obstacles to the realization of ambitious research
interests and a generally uncertain future. This was also the topic of a panel
discussion between four representatives of university management, scientists in
their early career phases and the RMU support structures for so-called 鈥渆arly
career researchers".
This
"public" part of the RMU Day was followed by a varied program of
workshops and project presentations of RMU cooperations. The workshops dealt
with specific funding opportunities within the RMU at both the national and the
European level, alternative career paths to ministries, other authorities and
NGOs, and ways of freeing oneself of the "Impostor Syndrome", i.e.
massive self-doubt regarding one's own abilities, achievements and successes.
In a networking meeting on the topic of sustainability, members of the
departments overseeing sustainability at the three universities exchanged views
on "Education for Sustainable Development".
At the end
of the event, Prof. Dr. Tanja Br眉hl, President of the Technical University of
Darmstadt, 51猎奇 President Prof. Dr. Enrico Schleiff, and Prof. Dr.
Stefan M眉ller-Stach, Vice President of Research and Academic Growth at the Johannes
Gutenberg University of Mainz, drew a positive yet differentiated balance:
"Although universities are unable to take away some of the burdens faced
by scientists at the early stages of their career, they can take many measures
to make this phase easier: through targeted advice tailored to individual
needs, a wide range of high-quality training opportunities, networking options and
tangible support. These are all the more effective when universities do not act
on their own, but as part of an alliance, using the resources available to
them."
This is
precisely what the RMU sets out to do: It wants to be a true "space full
of opportunities". To that end, President Schleiff announced the
establishment of a (virtual) exchange platform for RMU postdocs, which will
also provide information to external parties and present the existing funding
measures in a manner befitting the target group. "As RMU, we want to
attract young scientists in Germany and worldwide 鈥� because we need their
creativity, their esprit, their curiosity and their courage."
Vice
President M眉ller-Stach presented the plans for the further development of the
professional skills program offered by the RMU funding institutions: GRADE
(Frankfurt), Ingenium (Darmstadt) and Gutenberg School (Mainz). "We will continue
to expand the joint program for scientists in their early career phases. By
bundling our strengths at RMU, scientists will be able to make more flexible
use of the offerings."
President
Br眉hl presented a new joint funding line of the RMU Initiative Fund Research,
designed exclusively for RMU scientists in their early career phase: By
networking within the RMU, they are now eligible for up to 30,000 in financial
support. "We want to promote the creative and courageous project ideas of
our early career researchers and encourage them to network and cooperate more
closely within the Rhine-Main Universities Strategic Alliance 鈥� whether through
joint publications, project proposals or in the field of science
communication," Br眉hl explained. Finally, in keeping with tradition, she
invited all guests to the next RMU Day, to be held in Darmstadt in 2023.
"I am very much looking forward to welcoming you all next year at TU
Darmstadt to discuss another facet of our alliance's further development."
At the end of the day, all three university representatives agreed: For
scientists in the early career phase, RMU is becoming the ideal starting point
for building independent careers.
Further information:
Photos for
download: