Lunch Talk: Are Postdocs Alright?
In October, the Leibniz PostDoc Network published its latest survey providing valuable insight into the current experiences of Leibniz postdocs, exploring key aspects such as work-life balance, job security, career development, and mental health.
While the survey focuses on Leibniz postdocs, the challenges identified—work-life imbalance, unclear career pathways, transparency issues in the academic system, and constraints imposed by the WissZeitVG legislation—reflect systemic issues that extend across many research institutions in Germany. They are not isolated but part of larger, structural dynamics that affect the entire academic landscape.
Data about the current situation of postdocs in Germany are still scarce, but of upmost importance for targeted measures to improve the situation. We are therefore excited to learn about the recent findings and discuss them in our second talk of the Lunch Talk Series on Improving Research Culture on November 27th at 12:00-13:00 (CET).
The talk will start with a presentation of the findings by the Leibniz PostDoc Network Survey Working Group coordinators Dr. Regina Becker (Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories) and Dr. Harry Williams (Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine). Afterwards we invite you to a broader discussion aimed at understanding the extent of these challenges and developing strategies to address them.
Join us in this conversation about making academia a more stable, transparent, and rewarding environment for the next generation of researchers—whether you are a postdoc, research leader, research manager, or policymaker.
The event is organised jointly by the Leibniz Postdoc Network and the German Postdoc Network.
