ACADEMIC STAFF. Without funding, it is not possible for junior researchers to be active at Sahlgrenska Academy. Future Faculty’s two co-chairs also highlight another prerequisite for researchers to grow, namely the possibilities for collaborations, where they think there is room for improvement at the faculty.
It is on the occasion of the upcoming General Academy Meeting on conditions for researchers and regrowth (October 10, 12:00-1:00 p.m., in Lecture Hall Arvid Carlsson) that I arranged a meeting with Astrid von Mentzer and Paul Manna. They share the chairmanship of Future Faculty, a network within Sahlgrenska Academy that promotes early career researchers, such as postdoctoral fellows and associate professors.
“The question of how research can be financed is an existential concern for researchers, especially at the beginning of their career. Most of the time, these issues cannot be handled locally. Therefore, Future Faculty is an active member of the National Junior Faculty, NJF, which tries to represent the interests of junior researchers at the national level”, says Paul Manna.
He adds that Future Faculty also believes that there are measures that can be taken locally to help and improve the development of junior researchers’ careers.
Increased competition for funds
Future Faculty believes that there are several ongoing initiatives on the part of the faculty that are good for researchers in the establishment phase, with Astrid von Mentzer particularly highlighting the Research Support Office, which she has personally received very rewarding discussions from in her career planning.
The current economic trend, where costs are increasing and the value of money is decreasing, means increased competition for the funds available. It is Future Faculty’s view that junior researchers get the shorter straw in the competition with more senior researchers. A current example is the project-based doctoral student positions.
“Previously, there were more project-based doctoral student positions that were partially funded by the faculty to apply for each semester, and a number of these were reserved for researchers early in their careers. Often, significantly more than the reserved positions went to junior researchers, which was also one of the reasons why quotas ended. But this spring, it was mainly professors who got to share in these funds”, says Astrid von Mentzer.
Statistics for the most recent rounds showed that the percentage of successful junior researchers fell for the project-based doctoral positions. Future Faculty recently carried out an appeal among its members, which resulted in around a hundred signatures by researchers in all phases of their careers.
“Regardless of how it develops, we think it was important to pay attention to the issue of the relative distribution of funds to junior and senior researchers. Our hope is that in the future more consideration can be taken in the subjective assessment of the quality of the projects”, says Paul Manna, who thanks everyone who signed the petition and promises that the Future faculty will get back to them shortly.
A permissive environment
It can also be difficult for junior researchers to know what opportunities are available, Astrid von Mentzer points out. She requests clearer and more aggregated information. As an example, she mentions supervision of Erasmus students and master’s students, which is a good opportunity for those who are establishing their group.
“Since there are no lists or databases, it is always difficult to get in touch with potential students. There is also a certain amount of financial compensation paid to the person who supervises a master’s student, but this is something that many junior researchers are not aware of and therefore they fail to apply for the funds”, says Astrid von Mentzer.
Increased visibility and accessibility for the academic managers, both at institute and faculty level, could also contribute to a permissive and creative environment, which is a good breeding ground for research collaborations, Astrid von Mentzer and Paul Manna believe. They have their own previous experiences, as postdocs in international research environments, where they saw how collaborations and groups benefited from high ceilings and open doors. There are often pronounced and official hierarchies in international environments, but as junior researchers they always felt welcome to initiate discussions and collaborations with more established researchers.
New seminar series this autumn
Before Paul Manna came to the University of Gothenburg, for several years he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research. There, the arranged research seminars drew full houses.
“In Cambridge there was a pronounced expectation that you would come and listen when someone presented research. Just before the lecture, a person walked through all the corridors and rang a hand bell so that everyone would come and listen”, says Paul Manna.
Soon, this autumn, Future Faculty is launching a new lecture series, where they hope that many researchers will feel compelled to participate. Each seminar will have a current topic, and will be followed by refreshments and the opportunity to continue the conversation with the presenter and with other audiences. The first seminar, on mental health, will be held on November 14th, 2023.
“We welcome all researchers, regardless of what phase of their career they are in, so that we can contribute to the development of our academic culture. The first two seminars will address aspects of mental health and the initiatives within the GoCo Health Innovation City. We will get back to you with the time and place when all the planning is complete”, says Paul Manna.
In the spring, Future Faculty also plans to organize the Sahlgrenska Academy Junior Researcher Symposium (SAJRS), a follow-up to the successful symposium that took place last spring.
BY: ELIN LINDSTRÖM
- Read more about Future Faculty at Sahlgrenska Academy: https://medarbetarportalen.gu.se/sahlgrenskaakademin/anstallning-personal/future_faculty
- Read more about the National Junior Faculty here: https://nationaljf.se/
