Staff Development Symposium "Creating Perspective – The Future for Junior Researchers"

   

Staff development has more strongly established itself as a strategic element for all employees at universities, higher education institutions, and non-education institutions in recent years. Human resources representatives, university administrators, and politicians throughout Germany and the world are discussing topics such as support for junior researchers, reliable career perspectives for scientists, equal opportunities in science and academia, the strategic and structural anchoring of human resources development in academic life, and many more.

The Staff Development Symposium "Creating Perspectives – the Future for Junior Researchers" at RWTH Aachen on April 5 and 6, 2015, tackled some of these university-political and current topics. Excellent speakers from research and industry highlighted the triad of staff development, and the promotion of and equal opportunities for junior researchers. Together with human resources developers, managers in science, consultants, continuing education providers, and members of the university administration, they shared about staff development at universities and research institutions, highlighted best practice examples, and discussed the challenges.

The symposium was organized together with the Division of Career Development and the Rectorate Staff Unit: Integration Team – Human Resources, Gender and Diversity Management, IGaD, which presented the results of the EU project FESTA.

 

Presentations and Dialogue

What are the ideal framework conditions for careers?

• "Creating Perspectives – The Future of the Junior Researcher,", Prof. Dr. Doris Klee, Vice-Rector of Human Resources Management and Development at RWTH Aachen
• "Entering Leadership: Evidence-Based Management Development at Universities," Prof. Dr. Claudia Peus, Professor of Research and Science Management, TU Munich
• Dialogue: "Junior Researchers – the forgotten group?," Manfred Nettekoven, Chancellor of RWTH Aachen; Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Horst Hippler, President of the HRK; Prof. Dr. Claudia Peus, Professor of Research and Science Management, TU Munich; Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Peck, Dean, School of Arts and Sciences Baruch College

Women at the top – What can science and industry contribute?

• "On the Path to Equal Opportunity Careers – Impulses from FESTA“, Prof. Dr. Gabriele Griffin, Chair in Gender Research, Uppsala University, Sweden
• Exchange on new academic careers, best practices from non-university research institutions and experiences from industry, Prof. Dr. Carmen Leicht-Scholten, Gender and Diversity in Engineering, RWTH Aachen; Dr. Stephanie Dittmer, Head of Strategy/Initiative and Networking Fund, Helmholtz Association; Dr. Georg Barzel, Auditor berufundfamilie gGmbH; Marc Althoff, CEO P3 Group; Prof. Dr. Gabriele Griffin, Chair in Gender Research, Uppsala University, Sweden

Industry or Science – Is there an optimal career path?

• "Should I stay or should I go? Decision for remaining or leaving academia in the STEM subjects," Dr. Christian Burk, Institute of Psychology, RWTH Aachen
• Best Practice: "Equal Opportunities in Industry,“ Konstanze Marinoff, MEM Human Resources Marketing, Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche AG
• Panel discussion: "Shaping Optimal Career Paths,“ Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ernst Schmachtenberg, Rector of RWTH Aachen; Prof. Dr. Lutz Eckstein, Chair and Institute of Autmotive Engineering, RWTH Aachen; Konstanze Marinoff, MEM – Human Resources Marketing, Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche AG; Dr. Christian Burk, Institute of Psychology, RWTH Aachen; Prof. Dr. Armin Schnettler, New Technology & Innovation Fields, Siemens Corporate Technology