Opportunities and risks of an academic career

Opportunities

“Being a scientist is not a profession as any other but it is a vocation – a dream for life” as quoted from an entry at the KISSWIN portal.

Whether to contribute to a recognised research project as a scientific staff member, or to convey specific knowledge to a group of students as a lecturer; whether to talk about the latest discoveries from the sciences and research to curious students at a lecture as a professor, or to broaden one’s horizon and the limits of the disciplines – the way always holds numerous difficulties, however, many scientists are willing to accept these to fulfil their aim in life.
Developing own ideas, the individual and independent research as well as publications are the driving force of a career in the sciences. An occupation in the field of personal interests, which might find its highlight in a professorship, is for many an ideal combination of profession and personal interests. Another opportunity for an occupation in research is for instance a job as scientific staff member, with or without additional occupation as a lecturer.

It is a crucial condition for a start into an academic career to build and cultivate a personal network with scientists and researchers. Making the big money with a scientific occupation is rather unlikely; however, many researchers accept this to achieve their dream in life. Values such as fun at work, positive feedback from students, and conveying own knowledge, are of greater importance.
The professional as well as personal qualifications that are gained in the course of an academic career might be useful not only in research but also in the economy/in commerce and industry. Any big company has their own research and development department which offer challenging fields of activities.

Risks

Academic career only for idealists?

Making the decision to work in the sciences is one thing – having/being given the opportunity to do so is another one. Critical voices at the KISSWIN forum point out various weak points and uncertainties of an academic career in Germany, e.g. long qualification phases on temporary contracts which often cause the applicant to move cities, also internationally. It is often referred to §57b of the German Higher Education Framework Act which states that the doctoral phase is limited to six years and subsequent to these another six years (nine years in medical sciences) of limitation are admissible.

The general conditions are controlled by the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz (WissZeitVG) which does not allow employment at universities and non-university research institutions for more than 12 years. The opportunity for a long-term employment in research is missing, likewise prospects for scientific staff members apart from a professorship; however, not even a professorship can be warranted. Many are not willing to take the risk of not gaining a professorship after 12 years of limited employment. They rather start working in the industry alternative to making a career at university.

Furthermore, the agreements on the salaries for professorships are criticised. Salaries would be inappropriate considering the amount of demanding work and the value of the personal work experiences made in the post-doc phase. There is a huge existential uncertainty among young researchers, causing many of them to turn their back towards Germany and to look for career prospects abroad. It is clear what young researchers are missing in Germany – they demand appropriate income and realistic prospects for a promotion as well as unlimited employment at universities. In the end this would also improve the quality of education and would have a positive effect on the relationship between students and lecturers.

Whoever is planning an academic career should be aware of the opportunities and risks at the same time. Due to the limited capacities in the sciences, it is recommended to keep open the opportunity for a career in industrial research by means of interdisciplinary work, action research, a broad field of subjects, and networking to have long-term prospects and alternative opportunities.

Considering these shortcomings the Federal Report for the Promotion of Young Researchers (BuWIN) of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) already shows first actions to make “early career prospects” possible. The extension of the “tenure track” at higher education institutions is one of the actions to improve career prospects for young researchers who would like to focus mainly on education.