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Events
- On 29 January, the PhD
and Postdoc Day of Jena University will
take place. Doctoral candidates and postdocs will
get information on topics that are relevant for the
doctorate and the postdoc phase. In the evening,
there will be a fishbowl discussion in which
current measures to improve the conditions for
academic careers in Jena will be presented.
- The new online
event series ‘Alumni talk meets...’
features PhD alumni from all over Germany talking
about their career paths after completing their
doctorates. The series takes place every two months
in cooperation with other graduate institutions. The
next event, on 21 January at 16.00h, will provide an
insight into the professional biographies of PhD
alumni from the humanities. This event will be in
German.
- On 13 January, a ‘Sustainable
Campus Café’ will take place at the
Thulb library. This event will provide a forum for
discussing sustainability-related issues and
possible solutions for the two higher education
institutions in Jena. January's café will focus on
‘Sustainable Mobility & Internationalisation.’
Previous topics in the series have included digitalisation,
health
and social
justice. The (German) café series is organised
by the Open Sustainable Campus Lab project. (Picture
above: Adobestock/malp)
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Get
involved
- The Doctoral Researchers' Council (DR.FSU) has
conducted a large-scale
survey on the conditions for obtaining a
doctorate at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena.
The results and the recommendations for action
derived from it will be presented at a (German)
information event on 17 December at 17.30h in
Lecture Hall 235 in the main university building
(Fürstengraben 1). All interested parties are
cordially invited to attend.
- The Friedrich Schiller University of Jena is
calling for entries for the Three
Minute Thesis competition! Doctoral
researchers from all disciplines present their
dissertation topic on just one slide and in only
three minutes. The main prize is 100 Euro. If you
would like to take part, you can register using this form
by 30 January.
- On 20 May 2026, a european-wide
Science Battle will take place in Turku
(Finland). Interdisciplinary teams compete to find
the cleverest and most entertaining answer to
questions from the audience. The Jena team had
won the Science Battle against three other
universities in 2022. Researchers are currently
still being sought for the Jena team. Applications
are possible until 31 January via this
form.
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Qualification
offers
There are still vacancies in the following online and
on-site workshops:
- Graduate Academy:
- Lehre Lernen:
- Competence Center Digital Research (zedif):
- China Competence Platform "ChinaKoop":
- Project "Gender in Focus"
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This
may be of interest to you
- An international research team, including the
University of Jena, has shown for the first time in
a study
that artificial intelligence can independently
conduct a complete experiment on an atomic
force microscope. A newly developed agent system
calibrated the microscope, performed the
measurements, and stored and analysed the resulting
image data. However, the AI also deviated from
instructions and performed unauthorised steps (known
as “sleepwalking”). The experiment shows that AI can
relieve researchers of routine tasks in the
laboratory, but that clear safety rules will also be
necessary. (Picture above: Nicole Nerger)
- Researchers at the University of Lübeck have
investigated how the use of a lottery
system would affect the distribution of
third-party funding. In their experiment, a
lottery was first held to determine who would be
allowed to submit a third-party funding application
to a funding institution. In a second step, the
application was then peer-reviewed. The result: due
to the time saved by researchers who do not have to
submit (unsuccessful) applications, the allocation
of funding by lottery would cost 68 per cent less
money compared to the conventional peer review
approach. It also turned out that 23 per cent more
projects by women would be funded using this method.
- Once a year, the organisation ‘Academia in
Dialogue’ surveys the German population’s
attitudes towards academia. This year’s survey
revealed
that almost three quarters of respondents perceive a
major rift in society. At the same time, respondents
were also asked for their opinions on potentially
polarising topics. It emerged that respondents'
opinions on these topics are significantly less
divided (than they themselves perceive). Given this
situation, three quarters of respondents would like
academia to help make discussions more objective.
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Short
query: Do you discuss your research with your family?
Christmas is just around the corner and for many people
it is a tradition to visit their families. That's why we
want to know whether you talk to your family about your
research at home.
To
the survey
Results of the last survey: Separation of review and
supervision
Almost half of the respondents were in favour of
separating review and supervision (47%). However, a
quarter were concerned that there might be no other
person who could review their dissertation. Around one
in five (19%) rejected the idea of separating review and
supervision, as only the supervisor could assess the
amount of work involved. One tenth of respondents did
not care who reviewed their thesis.
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News
from University of Jena
- The University of
Jena has submitted
its application to become a University of
Excellence. A total of 15 universities in
Germany are eligible for funding as universities of
excellence. The ten
existing universities of excellence are
competing for these places, along with eleven
new universities and university consortia. An
on-site assessment as part of the application
process is expected to take place in June 2026. The
decision on the award is expected to be made in
early October 2026.
- Controversy has
once again erupted at the University of Jena over
the appropriate response to the Middle East
conflict. It was triggered by a non-public
letter from seven Jena university professors.
The letter called on the University of Jena to
review its academic cooperation with Israeli
universities to determine whether they were involved
in military operations in Gaza. The university
senate has
now backed the president's position, who sees
a review of cooperation agreements not as a
contribution to the resolving of conflicts. Prior to
this, there had been a dispute
during the summer over an event on the
destruction of the health system in the Gaza Strip.
- At the University
of Jena, extensive work was
carried out to create a digital 3D version
of a colourful Baroque coffin. The images
above show the digital reconstruction of the
original colours (left) and the current appearance
(right). The 17th-century coffin is located in the
so-called Princes' Crypt in the town church and has
had an turbulent history: after the Second World
War, it was first plundered by thieves. The hole
they left behind was later used to carry out an
attack on the bones with phosphorus. The coffin had
to be opened to extinguish the fire. This enabled
scientists to remove and examine the bones. However,
as the digital reconstruction now revealed, they did
not put them back, but left their findings in the
coffin as a kind of message in a bottle. The digital
reconstruction now provides a 3D view of the coffin
from the
outside and inside.
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Latest
News from the city of Jena
- There is a new Christmas market in Jena:
the ‘Garden
of Lights’ in the Botanical Garden (see
picture). Until 21 December, regional products and
specialities can be purchased at 14 booths and
visitors can warm up in one of the tropical
greenhouses. Admission costs 5 Euro (standard) or 3
Euro (with Thoska). There is also a small
entertainment programme every evening. Further
events in December are also offered by Kultürchen
and the musical
Advent calendar (Muweika).
- A conflict between the city of Jena and the
ultra fans of the Jena football club FC Carl
Zeiss Jena has
escalated further in recent months. Following
riots, the city of Jena imposed
stadium bans on 61 ultra fans. The background to the
dispute is that, as part of the stadium renovation,
there were plans to separate visiting fans and local
ultra fans more strictly for safety reasons. This
would have required the ultra fans to move from the
south to the north stand (which means facing the sun
during regular afternoon matches). The fans launched
the ‘Südkurve
bleibt’ (South Stand stays) campaign,
guaranteed that there would be no riots and got
their way last year. However, after several clashes
between fans, the city responded
with aforementioned stadium bans. The outcome of the
dispute is uncertain. If the club wants to be
promoted to the third league next summer, the city
would have to grant permission.
- The Rosenkeller
is Jena's oldest student club. It is located in a
historic barrel vault in the city centre. However,
10 years ago, the largest event room had to be
closed due to an unexplained water leak. Now, the
problem is solved and the ‘big barrel’ will be
reopened. The first concert is planned for 9
January.
- Since November, the tourist information office
regularly offers English-language guided tours
of Jena. These tours take place on the first
Saturday of every month at 2 p.m. Tickets can be
booked at the tourist information office or via this
website.
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