In November, we, the doctoral researchers, again elected two new spokespersons who will represent us in several committees for the next year. This means it is time to say goodbye and thank you, but also welcome and good luck!

As usual I would like to introduce the new speakers to you or let’s say let them introduce themselves to you. Afterwards I will give you a short overview of the things that are went on in the last months.

Before we start with our Newbies, I’d like to mention that this time all our candidates for speakers were internationals, which is a first 🙂

So I am really happy to introduce you to…

Sanja Novak (ICS-3) and Dieter Boeyaert (IEK-4) as our new representatives.

Although only two out of three could be elected, we are very grateful that there were more people interested in these positions, since that means more people are willing to involve themselves in issues regarding all docs in the research center. And that is why I first of all would like to thank you, Rejhana Kolasinac (ICS-7), for being a candidate!

It was really a close decision and all three of you were very convincing while introducing yourselves.

In contrast to the previous elections, the candidates did not just write a short description about themselves and their plans regarding the DocTeam, but this time they had to face an interview which was recorded, so that everyone could listen to their ambitions. The video can be found following the link. There you can get to know our new speakers for yourself.

So below you can see our new team of representatives. Sonja Novak will join current speaker Nora Bittner as a HeJu (Helmholtz Junior), and Dieter Boeyaert will focus on internal affairs together with current speaker Jörg Ackermann.

 

The four current representatives: Sanja Novak (HeJu), Dieter Boeyaert (internal affairs), Jörg Ackermann (internal affairs) and Nora Bittner (HeJu). (from left to right)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eventually, it is time to thank Marion and Jannis, our retired representatives: “Thanks for all the time and your great commitment to the doctoral researcher community! You did great and fantastic work!”

Now, let’s have a quick look at the work of the previous months. As you might remember, we have two main projects going on – improving the working conditions for doctoral researchers and the development of the Doctoral Researcher and Scientific Advisor Platform (short: DocPlatform; the final name is still not chosen).

At the beginning of September, the regularly scheduled DocTeam event “What are they actually doing at…?” took place. This time, ver.di visited the research center and gave the audience an insight into their work. This was the chance for us, the DocTeam, to discuss some important issues regarding our working conditions with them. The conclusion of this discussion is that there are alternatives on which we can work together and achieve a change to doctoral union contracts. For detailed information, you can read our blog article Jülich’s Docs joining ver.di? which is available in English and German.

The development of the DocPlatform is proceeding very well and we reached the end of the second phase. Just as a short reminder, the project started last fall and is divided into three phases, which helps to focus on different sub goals and still have the major aim in mind. Besides the DocTeam, there are a lot of people from different units of the research center involved, who all work together on the implementation. For more detailed information, you can read our previous articles Development of the DocPlatform and Transferable Skills Subgroup.

 

 

 

About Stefanie Hamacher

Steffi has been a doctoral researcher at the PGI-8 since June 2016 and joined the DocTeam in August of the same year. She took over the position as editor of the DocTeam Newsletter and supports the working group Public Relations with respect to the communication between the DocTeam and the other Docs.

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