Germany has the initiative #IchBinHanna, Denmark has #PleaseDontStealMyWork - and both initiatives have a common goal: better working conditions for researchers in early career phases. While the German discussion is focusing on reforming the fixed-term contract system, the focus in Denmark is on intellectual property. As Times Higher Education reported recently, Maria Toft, a doctoral student at the University of Copenhagen, published some 120 testimonials in which doctoral students tell of plagiarism and unjustified authorship by their supervisors.
Meanwhile, in Germany, more proposals to reform the controversial fixed-term employment act (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz) are published. Following in the footsteps of the Junge Akademie (PDF), the Hochschulverband (PDF) and the GEW union (Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft), the universities in the German Rectors' Conference agreed on their concept. According to this, the qualification period with fixed-term options is to be shortened by two from twelve to ten years, and doctoral students are to receive a contract for at least three years. At the same time, the #IchBinHanna core team published its key points for the reform on the Wiarda blog.
(source: WISSEN3 Newsletter, see www.zeit.de/wissendrei)