Young Academy of Europe 2019 AGM
We held our yearly annual general meeting (AGM) in October in Barcelona. It was an eventful meeting, with lots of time for networking and discussion. As is our tradition, we went over highlights of the past year, and elected several new Board members. We also had intensive discussions about how the YAE could be improved (more on that below).
In the joint meeting with the AE, our Chair Mangala Srinivas introduced the YAE to all new members, we announced our Andre Mischke Prize winner, Prof. Janusz Bujnicki, and hosted a very lively panel discussion on the state of academics today under the heading ‘The future for Young Scholars.’ The panel members included Graham Caie (Vice-president of ALLEA), Johannes Klumpers (Head of the EC Scientific Advice Mechanism Unit), Rolf Tarrach (Former President of the European University Association), as well as the new second YAE Vice-Chair Gemma Modinos and Vice-Chair Toma Susi.
Several important points were raised in the panel, for example that the situation considering the relative availability of funding, stability, work load and track-record threshold to get a permanent position is truly different now than it was a couple of decades ago. This situation may be unsustainable, making academia increasingly less attractive as a job-market for younger research talents. This discussion comes right on the heels of an initiative in the NL called WOinactie, which is bringing attention to the fact that most academics are simply expected to work beyond normal working hours.
Photos of the joint meeting are available here:
http://barcelona.acadeuro.org/bkhaction/gallery/ae-building-bridges-2019-barcelona/
The YAE is only as good as its members. We hope to see you at our next AGM, which will be in Barcelona in October 2020.
Andre Mischke YAE Prize for Science and Policy 2019
This year’s prize was awarded to Prof. Janusz Bujnicki, Professor of Biology, and head of a research group in the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IIMCB) in Warsaw and at the University of Poznań. By awarding the YAE Prize, we recognise his internationally leading roles in academic research, management, and policymaking.
More information available here:
http://yacadeuro.org/andre-mischke-yae-prize-for-science-and-policy-2019-in-barcelona/
New YAE Board
Our sincere thanks to those members whose term on the Board has ended: Kate, Manuel, Sebastian, Marcel and Lydia. Correspondingly, five new members were elected to the increasingly geographically diverse Board: Alina Mihaela Badescu (Romania), Thea Selliaas Thorsen (Norway), Pawel Korpal (Poland), Arild Husby (Sweden) and Giulia Grancini (Italy). We have shuffled the roles somewhat as the tasks have changed over the year, with further details on our website.
Keep in mind that you do NOT need to be on the Board to contribute to the YAE!