Interview with the Hohenheim Doctoral Candidates’ Representatives
A coffee with... [20.11.20]
For a year now, doctoral candidates have been represented in the Senate as a separate status group with voting rights.
In times of Covid-19, the first question is: How are doctoral candidates doing at the University of Hohenheim?
Helen Mengis: We are affected by the current situation just like many others. Even independently of Covid-19, it is not easy for many doctoral candidates to find an appropriate balance between their dissertation project and the demands of teaching. Covid-19 has made this challenge even more difficult, because digital teaching is much more time-consuming.
Thea Mi Weiß: This can be particularly problematic for doctoral candidates with children or with relatives who have to be cared for. A new funding program from the Gender Equality Office, which is aimed specifically at young female scientists whose projects have been delayed due to Covid-19, has helped to ease the burden in Hohenheim. We are very grateful for this. Of course it would be desirable if male doctoral students could also benefit from similar support.
Helen Mengis: Some of our colleagues are already under pressure to complete their dissertation projects in the time allocated, for example, by the third-party funding organization or scholarship provider, and are then confronted with the great uncertainty of follow-up financing. Of course, in times like these, this has an even greater effect - including psychologically.
Fortunately, with the help of an online petition, it was possible to extend the employment contracts of research assistants by up to 6 months - and many third-party funding and scholarship providers have also followed suit. The coming months will show whether this is enough.
Thea Mi Weiß: In addition there are various practical difficulties: For example, anyone who has to collect data abroad for their dissertation or has to travel to Hohenheim from abroad is still facing a major problem.
Are the problems of the doctoral candidates being perceived sufficiently?
Helen Mengis: Actually, we do not always know to what extent we are perceived as a separate status group by the state government. We are of course aware that in a time of crisis, everyone is working to put out fires. And unfortunately, there are often no easily implementable solutions to the issues that particularly concern us because they are directly related to the university system itself.
Together with our colleagues from Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Stuttgart, Tübingen, and Ulm, we approached Science Minister Theresia Bauer with a Covid-19 statement at the beginning of June, for example, and unfortunately only received a reply to a renewed inquiry last week. That is a bit disappointing.
In Hohenheim itself things look better in this respect: The university management reacted immediately to a letter from us - and we subsequently had several very constructive discussions both within the faculties and with the President and the Vice Presidents.
Thea Mi Weiß: However, we hope that this conversation will continue in everyday life. If a crisis management team or task force is spontaneously convened, as was recently the case with the topic "Recording zoom events," students and professors are usually invited to attend. Although we are often very much affected by the consequences, we are rarely considered in such special situations and can usually only exert influence indirectly through our good contacts with student representatives.
In fact, it was just one year ago that doctoral candidates in Baden-Württemberg were accepted as a separate status group in the Senate with voting rights - a move by the Green-led state government. What has changed for doctoral candidates as a result?
Moritz Novotny: With 3 representatives, we doctoral candidates are quite well represented compared to the students (4 representatives), the academic (4 representatives), and non-academic employees (3 representatives). However, with regard to the 18 representatives of the professors, our voice carries little weight. Here, a fair balance of power would possibly lead to somewhat more interesting Senate sessions.
Helen Mengis: When the Green state government confidently promised more co-determination for doctoral candidates with the change of power in 2011, we had hoped for more. Despite everything, the LHG amendment is a step forward, and we are ahead of other German states. One advantage is that we now receive important information earlier and can at least make the voice of doctoral candidates heard in the Senate discussion. As representatives, we were also invited to talks by the university management when we took office, and we are receiving very good support from various offices at the university.
Thea Mi Weiß: At the same time, it has to be said that we can only really make the most of the available opportunities in the interests of the doctoral candidates if we also receive feedback from our own ranks and hear where the problem actually lies. Unfortunately, it is still not easy for us to get in touch with the rather inhomogeneous group of doctoral candidates.
What opportunities are there for discussion?
Thea Mi Weiß: The best opportunity to get into conversation are our monthly lunch dates. At our last meeting before Covid-19, about 50 doctoral candidates met in the Mensa. Considering that there are about 900 doctoral candidates, there is still room for improvement, but it was a very good start.
Moritz Novotny: Unfortunately, since then we have only had 10-20 participants for the online appointments. We would be happy to see more of them. Especially since we are hearing from other universities that the exchange is very active at the moment. If you have specific questions or concerns, we are of course available as contact persons at any time by email. The same applies to the Executive Board of the Hohenheim Graduate Council, with whom we work closely.
Helen Mengis: In order to get a broader picture of the mood regarding the situation of doctoral candidates and postdocs, we also conducted a broad online survey in the spring.
What were the findings you were able to draw from it?
Helen Mengis: One gratifying result is that most of the Hohenheim doctoral candidates are satisfied with their situation overall - apart from a few extreme outliers. The support provided by the Graduate Academy is also rated very positively. If one reads at the same time how critically many graduate students evaluate their financial situation, the satisfaction values probably speak above all for a high passion for teaching and research. However, this does not last forever: In the group of postdocs, overall satisfaction is lower.
Thea Mi Weiß: We also became aware of a number of shortcomings among doctoral candidates: For example, it turned out that a great many of them began their dissertation without having submitted a formal Application for Acceptance as a Doctoral Candidate. Quite a few of them rely on verbal assurances from superiors and register their dissertations only shortly before submission. This is risky, because without acceptance there is no legal claim to a doctorate at the university. Supervisors may be absent or there may be disagreements. The reasons for the late registration are apparently very diverse, among other things there are complaints about the high administrative effort.
Helen Mengis: Last but not least, the survey showed that there are very big differences from one department to another in terms of networking opportunities for doctoral candidates.
In what way?
Helen Mengis: Some chairs are very well networked and work with many partners in Hohenheim, Germany, and worldwide. Doctoral candidates benefit from this in their research and it helps them to build a network for their future career. Other doctoral candidates, on the other hand, have the impression that they are more or less isolated in their department and are doing their work in a quiet little room. As the doctoral candidate representatives, we want to respond to this by offering more central networking opportunities.
Moritz Novotny: On November 26, we are therefore inviting you to the first "Young Scientist Event": an online event at which young scientists can talk to a junior professor, for example, or to the Innovation Greenhouse team. Also on board are the Vice President for Research, the Graduate Academy, and the Hohenheim Research Centers. We are very much looking forward to it and hope to welcome as many doctoral candidates and postdocs as possible!
Thank you very much for the interview!
Interview: Leonhardmair / Translation: Neudorfer
