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                        Events
                        
                          - The university wants to be more sustainable. In a
                            university-wide Future Workshop on 31 May,
                            initial ideas will be collected and discussed on how
                            the University of Jena can become more
                              sustainable in the various areas. A sustainability
                              strategy will then be developed on this basis.
                            There is also still time to take part in a mobility
                              survey by the Green Office until 17 April.
 
                          - On 31 May, there is also the Germany-wide Diversity
                              Day. Around this day, the university offers
                            several workshops on topics such as empowerment,
                            migration or working in a mentally healthy way.
                            Shortly, you will find more information here.
 
                          - After a two-year hiatus, the summer festival
                              of Jena University can finally take place
                            again on the evening of Schiller Day this year
                            (Photo: C. Worsch). This year's Schiller Day is on
                            24 June. Ticket
                              sales for the event are expected to start at
                            the beginning of May.
 
                         
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                        Get
                          involved
                        
                          - Would you like to improve the working and research
                            conditions at the university and organise events for
                            and with other doctoral candidates? Then run for
                            office as a candidate for the Doctoral
                                Council (DR.FSU)! Be part of this
                            committed team! From 11 April to 23 May you will
                            find the nomination form on the website of the electoral
                              office.
 
                          - At times, our PhD studies come with hardships:
                            Struggles with the topic, keeping an healthy
                            work-life balance, dealing with pressure for
                            publications or scientific outcomes, expectations of
                            supervisors etc. The doctoral council offers an open
                            space to exchange about these challenges and invite
                            you to share your struggles as well as advice and
                            support at our doc.open hour on April 7th
                            from 5.30 to 6.30 pm via Zoom
                            (pw: 902403).
 
                         
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                        Qualification
                          offers
                        
                        There are still vacancies in the following online and
                          on-site workshops: 
                        
                          - Graduate Academy:
 
                          
                          
                          - Lehre Lernen:
 
                          
                          - Service Center
                              Research and Transfer
 
                          
                          
                          
                         
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                        Announcements
                        
                          - The
                            Graduate Academy is looking for new tutors
                            for the Intudoc
                              team. This team accompanies new international
                            doctoral candidates and postdocs on their first
                            steps in Jena, for example during visits to the
                            authorities. The commitment as a tutor can be
                            supported by a scholarship (250 euros/month) for
                            international doctoral candidates (application to ga-international@uni-jena.de).
                            German doctoral researchers can apply for a position
                              as a research assistant to support the team
                            (20 hours per week). The application deadline for
                            all positions is 10 April.
 
                          - The Graduate Academy is looking for the most
                              beautiful and creative doctoral hat! The
                            prizes are 50, 40 and 30 euros! Deadline for entries
                            is 15 May. Like last year, the photo
                              competition "Hats off!" can only be held as an
                            online voting.
 
                          - Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology: Six
                                PhD positions (Deadline 06. Mai)
 
                         
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                        This
                          may be of interest to you
                        
                        
                          - The European Commission wants to drastically
                              change the assessment of research
                              performance: Moving away from a quantitative
                            view of the number of publications and impact
                            factors to a qualitative assessment of research
                            performance based on new criteria that have yet to
                            be found. At a conference in Paris in February, a first
                              statement was published emphasising the will
                            for change. This statement is now supported by more
                            than 200
                              research institutions and research funders in
                            a so-called "coalition of the willing". The
                            largest German funding body, the Deutsche
                            Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research
                            Foundation), is not among the supporters – it says
                            the process is too rushed. However, the DFG is
                            participating in a commission
                              to find the new criteria. At the European
                            level, the first changes have already been made:
                            Last year the European Research Council has banned
                            the use of impact factors to evaluate applications.
 
                          - Germany has the highest level of academic
                              freedom in the world. This is the result of
                            the Academic Freedom Index (AFI), which was compiled
                            by the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and the
                            University of Gothenburg (see image above). In many
                            countries, the situation has gotten significantly
                            worse since 2011, for example in Hong Kong, Hungary,
                            Russia, Poland, Turkey and India. But the situation
                            has also deteriorated in leading science nations
                            such as the UK and the USA. The Index data is free
                            to use and can be accessed here.
 
                          - All administrative services in Germany
                            shall also be offered digitally by the end
                            of 2022. This was decided as part of the Online
                              Access Act (OZG) in 2017. In the field of
                            education, for example, a digital high school
                            diploma was developed, but after serious security
                              flaws became public, it is now being revised.
                            A new project will now test whether artificial
                            intelligence can help to transform the existing
                            systems and build them up sustainably in digital
                            form. The Federal Ministry of the Interior is
                            funding this with around five million Euros over the
                            next three years. The University of Jena is involved
                            with the Competence Centre for Digital Research
                            (zedif) and the Heinz Nixdorf Professorship. 
 
                         
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                        News
                          from University of Jena
                        
                        
                          - A new radio
                              telescope has given researchers a spectacularly
                              detailed view of our universe: 4.4 million
                            galaxies have become visible – one million were
                            previously unknown (see picture). The Thuringian
                            State Observatory Tautenburg was involved
                            in processing the huge amounts of data. A Dutch
                            research team visualised the data here.
                            The amount of data is so large that a Citizen
                              Science project was launched to search for new
                            black holes.
 
                          - Last year, the Competence
                                Center Digital Research (zedif) was
                            founded at the University of Jena. The centre now is
                            the place to go for matters and questions concerning
                            digitalisation within research. Services provided by
                            zedif include courses
                            on software tools, but also consulting in questions
                            of research software engineering and management.
                            With its established services, the Research Data
                            Management Helpdesk is now a part of the Centre. 
 
                          - Since this year, employees of the University of
                            Jena can download images from the AdobeStock
                              database free of charge. In order to do so,
                            the Adobe ID must be activated.
                            Unfortunately, doctoral researchers without an
                            employment contract with the university cannot use
                            the database.
 
                         
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                        Latest
                          News from Jena city
                        
                          - A new technology and start-up centre
                            called "Lab2fab" is
                              being built on the natural sciences campus at
                            Landgrafen. On six floors, there will be laboratory
                            and office space as well as workshop areas for
                            research in the fields of physics, chemistry,
                            biology, material sciences and food chemistry. Other
                              major construction projects outside the
                            university are: The Carl-Zeiss company is
                            building a new "high-tech location" for more than
                            2,000 employees on the former Schott site at
                            Westbahnhof (see illustration above). Here
                            you can see the progress in time-lapse. The company
                            DotSource is converting the "Alte Feuerwache"
                            into its new company
                              headquarters for up to 1,000 employees.
 
                          - Since the beginning of this week, the obligation
                              to wear a mask has been lifted in many areas
                            (e.g. in shops or restaurants). The previous access
                            restrictions according to 2G or 3G no longer apply.
                            Only in public transport, in the health sector and
                            in public administration a mask obligation remains
                            in force. Masks are also compulsory in the
                            university buildings until
                              further notice. Due to the continuously high
                            level of Corona infections, the government had tried
                            to extend the regulations until May, but could
                              not achieve a majority in the state
                            parliament.
 
                          - There are cultural events again! On 20 May, for
                            example, the Long
                                Night of Museums will take place in
                            Jena. During this night, all museums in Jena can be
                            visited with one ticket. The museums also offer
                            exciting special events and guided tours on this
                            evening. And: Starting this week, tickets for the
                            Kulturarena can be purchased. The Kulturarena
                            is a six-week festival that takes place annually in
                            July and August. It offers a mix of concerts,
                            theatre, cinema and children's events. In the last
                            two years, the Kulturarena could not take place or
                            only in a very limited form – all the more reason to
                            join an event this year!
 
                         
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