Fakultetet arbeider for tiden med oppf?lging av universitetsstyrets vedtak om standarder for karrierest?ttende tiltak for vitenskapelig ansatte i tidlig karrierefase. En arbeidsgruppe ledet av dekanen har skissert noen hovedtyper av tiltak og mulige konkrete tiltak innenfor disse hovedtypene. Skissen er lagt frem for fakultetsstyret, institutt- og senterlederne og organisasjonene, og vi har f?tt fine innspill som vi tar med oss videre. Det er et interessant og meningsfylt arbeid.
Det ? gi v?re ansatte i tidlig karrierefase den kunnskapen, de ferdighetene og de holdningene de vil ha mest mulig nytte av videre, er viktig b?de for den enkelte ansatte og for deres fremtidige arbeidsgivere.
Universstyrets vedtak gjelder ph.d.-studenter, postdoktorer og forskere i tidlig karrierefase. Etter en evaluering av ph.d.-programmet for noen ?r siden ble programmets obligatoriske fellesdel utvidet og endret i retning av ? legge st?rre vekt p? utvikling av kandidatenes generiske ferdigheter, dvs. ferdigheter som er relevante ogs? for karrierel?p utenfor akademia. Vi tror denne delen av ph.d.-programmet langt p? vei dekker denne ansattgruppens karrierest?ttebehov. I tillegg 中国竞猜网_中国足彩网-足球推荐er vi med Det matematisk naturvitenskapelige fakultet og Karrieresenteret om ? utvikle tilbud i karriereveiledning og bevisstgj?ring av egen kompetanse som vil supplere og komplettere tilbudet til ph.d.-studentene v?re.
Kvalifisere for vitenskapelige stillinger
Arbeidsgruppen har derfor konsentrert arbeidet om tiltak for ? st?tte postdoktorenes karriereutvikling. Forskriften om ansettelsesvilk?r for blant annet postdoktorer sl?r fast at hensikten med ansettelse i en postdoktorstilling er ? kvalifisere for arbeid i vitenskapelige toppstillinger. Det er krevende ? kvalifisere seg for slike stillinger. ?pne utlysninger og internasjonal konkurranse gj?r at det er t?ff konkurranse om disse stillingene, spesielt ved de mest attraktive arbeidsstedene i Norge og andre land.
Det er viktig at de karrierest?ttende tiltakene vi utvikler, faktisk st?tter opp under hensikten med tilsetting i postdoktorstillinger, som alts? er ? kvalifisere for arbeid i vitenskapelige toppstillinger.
Arbeidsgruppen er av den oppfatning at postdoktorer som hovedregel b?r ansettes for en periode p? fire ?r med 25 prosents arbeidsplikt. Dette skaper de best tenkelige betingelsene for kvalifiseringsarbeidet. If?lge Retningslinjer for ansettelse i postdoktor- og stipendiatstillinger ved UiO skal personer som tilsettes p? slike vilk?r, ta kurs i universitetspedagogikk og f?r dermed pedagogisk basiskompetanse i tillegg til undervisningserfaring.
Kontroversielt sp?rsm?l
B?r listen over karrierest?ttende tiltak inkludere et punkt om at postdoktorer b?r f? adgang til ? s?ke om eksterne forskningsmidler med seg selv som prosjektledere? Dette sp?rsm?let er viktig og kontroversielt. ? gi postdoktorer adgang til ? s?ke slike midler vil kunne gi den enkelte postdoktor verdifull erfaring med ? s?ke eksterne midler i en sektor der dokumentert evne til ? hente inn midler er meritterende.
Hovedgrunnen til at sp?rsm?let er kontroversielt, er at en postdoktor som f?r tilslag p? en s?knad om ekstern finansiering av et prosjekt, og som allerede har v?rt tilsatt i tre eller fire ?r som postdoktor, av arbeidsrettslige grunner vil m?tte tilsettes i en fast stilling.
En slik tilsetting i en fast stilling skjer uten utlysning og ?pen konkurranse, noe som bryter med UiOs overordnede politikk om at det skal v?re full ?pen og internasjonal konkurranse om faste stillinger ved UiO.
M? besluttes p? grunnenheten
Et viktig sp?rsm?l b?de for fakultetet og for enhetene er hvor i organisasjonen myndigheten til ? fatte beslutninger om hvorvidt postdoktorene skal f? s?ke om eksterne prosjektmidler, b?r ligge. Fakultetets politikk p? dette omr?det er at det er institutt- eller senterleder ved den enkelte grunnenhet som avgj?r om en postdoktor skal f? s?ke slike midler. Det er dermed den enkelte enhets fagstrategiske behov som avgj?r.
? legge beslutningsmyndigheten til grunnenhetene betyr at enhetene praktiserer og fortsatt vil praktisere dette litt forskjellig, fordi de har ulike fagstrategiske behov og ogs? ulike vurderinger av ?nskeligheten av ? tilsette personer i rene forskerstillinger.
Hensynet til UiOs overordnede politikk om at det skal v?re full ?pen og internasjonal konkurranse om faste stillinger, tilsier uansett at enhetene ikke legger seg p? en sv?rt liberal linje i dette sp?rsm?let. Men dersom en senter- eller instituttleder mener det er tungtveiende fagstrategiske grunner til at en postdoktor kan f? s?ke eksterne forskningsmidler, er det ingenting i fakultetets politikk p? dette omr?det som hindrer ham eller henne i ? gj?re det.
Editorial: Dilemmas concerning career support for younger academic staff
How can employers support the career development of younger academic staff in the best possible manner? For example, should career support for our younger employees include a liberal attitude so that postdoctoral fellows may apply for external research funding with themselves as project managers?, writes Dean Anne Julie Semb.
The Faculty is currently conducting follow-up work on the University Board’s decision regarding career-support initiative standards for academic staff during the early phase of their career. A focus group led by the Dean has outlined a number of general initiatives and possible specific initiatives within these general types. The outline has been presented to the Faculty Board, the Heads of Departments and Centres and the trade unions, and we have received quality input that will be taken on board. The work is interesting and meaningful.
Giving our employees in the early phase of their career the knowledge, skills and attitudes they will benefit from the most is important, both for individual employees and for their future employers.
The University Board’s decision applies to PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and researchers who are in the early phase of their career. After an evaluation of the PhD programme a few years ago, the programme’s compulsory common section was expanded and changed. Greater emphasis was placed on the development of candidates’ generic skills, i.e. skills also relevant to career paths not associated with academia. We believe that this part of the PhD programme adequately meets the needs of this group of employees in relation to career support. In addition, we are collaborating with the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and the Career Services to develop offers of career advice and expertise awareness that will supplement and complement the offer given to our PhD students.
Qualify for academic positions
The focus group has therefore concentrated its work on initiatives aimed at supporting the career development of postdoctoral fellows. Regulations concerning terms and conditions of employment for postdoctoral fellows state that the main objective of appointment as a postdoctoral fellow is to qualify for work in senior academic posts. Qualifying for such positions is demanding. Open announcements and international competition mean getting these positions involves a tough contest, especially at the most attractive places of work in Norway and other countries.
It is important that the career-support initiatives we develop actually support the main objective of appointment to postdoctoral positions, which is to qualify for work in senior academic positions.
The focus group is of the opinion that postdoctoral fellows should, as a general rule, be employed for a period of four years with 25 percent required duties. This creates the best possible conditions for the qualifying work. According to Guidelines concerning appointment to post doctoral and research posts at UiO, persons who are appointed on such terms and conditions must study courses in university pedagogy, thus receiving basic pedagogical competence in addition to teaching experience.
A controversial question
Should the list of career-support initiatives include a point stating that postdoctoral fellows should be allowed to apply for external research funding with themselves as project managers? This is an important and controversial question. Allowing postdoctoral fellows to seek such funding will give individual postdoctoral fellows valuable experience in applying for external funding in a sector where the proven ability to raise funding is meritorious.
The main reason why the question is controversial is that a postdoctoral fellow who is successful in raising external funding for a project, and who has already been employed for three or four years as a postdoctoral fellow, will have to be appointed to a permanent position in accordance with labour legislation.
Such an appointment to a permanent position takes place without announcement and open competition, which is in breach of UiO’s general policy that states there should be fully open and international competition for permanent positions at UiO.
Decisions must be made at unit level
An important question both for the Faculty and for the units is where in the organisation the authority should lie in relation to making decisions about whether postdoctoral fellows should be allowed to apply for external project funding. The Faculty’s policy in this area states that it is the head of department or centre at each individual unit who decides whether a postdoctoral fellow should be allowed to apply for such funding. Therefore, it is each individual unit’s disciplinary strategic needs that determine the result. Giving the units the authority to make decisions means that the units practice and will continue to practice this a little differently. This is due to the fact that they have different disciplinary strategic needs and also different assessments regarding the benefits of appointing people to pure research positions. In any case, UiO’s general policy that there should be fully open and international competition for permanent positions requires the units to not take a very liberal approach regarding this question. However, if a head of centre or department believes there are substantial disciplinary strategic reasons why a postdoctoral fellow should be allowed to seek external research funding, there is nothing in the Faculty’s policy on this area that prevents him or her from doing so.