20. Nov 2023
[TU Berlin] DFG project ”Functions and consequences of unemployment in researcher’s careers“
A research group at TU Berlin is currently conducting a DFG-funded research project on unemployment in academic careers.
What the group want to find out is how and whether researchers continue to do research during the time when they are not paid for it, and to what extent continuing to work (or not continuing to work) has an impact on their further (academic) career.
For this reason, TU Berlin is looking for researchers from universities or non-university research institutions who can talk to us about this topic!
Episodes in which there is no salary from a research activity are what the group call “academic unemployment”. This includes, among other things, unpaid guest researcher positions, specially titled descriptions such as “independent researcher” with private funding, but also official unemployment, for example between two projects. The term “gaps” is used colloquially to describe such periods. The few studies that deal with this issue suggest that academic unemployment is quite common and occurs in all academic disciplines. But the group don’t know who and how many are affected by it, nor do the group know anything about the effects.
In this respect, if you
– are currently in academic unemployment
– will be academically unemployed in the near future, or
– have already been academically unemployed in the past,
why don’t you get in touch with the group for an interview?
The interview can be conducted on site, for example at your (former) research institution, or online via Zoom or similar. The interview lasts between 60 and 90 minutes. You do not need to prepare for it. The interview language is either English or German. The interview, the recording and the resulting transcript will be handled in absolute confidentiality by the group. The group will not tell others that the group interviewed you. The group also assure you, that neither you nor your organisation will be identifiable from project-related publications.
For more information, just have a look at the website: https://fufaf.hypotheses.org/. Or contact the group directly via email: or .
