WE WON!! THE UNIVERSITY COUNCIL VOTED AGAINST THE BURSARY EXPERIMENT AND PROTECTED THE STATUS OF OUR STUDENTS!! I AM ABSOLUTELY THRILLED THAT OUR PRESSURE FOR AN OPEN DISCUSSION LED TO THIS RESULT!! WE WILL STAY VIGILANT BUT FOR TODAY LET US CELEBRATE THIS MASSIVE TRIUMPH!!
April 23, 2016
Final supporters
A group of officials wants that the University of Groningen takes part in the so-called Bursary Experiment. This would mean 850 bursary PhD-students in the upcoming 4 years, next to the regular PhD positions with employee status. Next Thursday (February 25th) your representatives at the University Council will be voting for/against the proposal to join the experiment.
Up until now, the general public has not been informed about the details of the proposal or given a forum to raise questions and get answers. For a quick overview of what this is about, you can find it in these articles (here and here). As a member of the University (PhD candidate/student, Master student, Professor, Staff, Technician, ...), you should be able to voice your opinion on whether the University of Groningen should take part in the experiment or not. Answers should be given to all members of the University who will be affected before the decision is taken.
How is this Bursary Experiment different from the one that was abandoned ten years ago for good reasons? How will the University cope with the additional supervision load? How will the the quality be ensured for all PhD students education, and how will we cover its additional costs, seeing that many Graduate Schools are already beyond their capacity? How will the University prevent a 2-class system of PhD students? How will financial and social security be ensured for bursary students?
If you think an open discussion should be held before the University Council takes any decision, make your voice heard via this petition.
This will be officially sent to your representatives in the University Council before they have the meeting to decide on the participation in the experiment (Thursday, February 25th).
Make sure you sign and share this with anyone you think should be involved in this decision process.
Groningen Graduate Interest Network (GRIN)
Updates
Reached 100 supporters
February 22, 2016
68 Comments
As the University is pushing harder procedures and regulations for scientific integrity, it is shocking to see that the board is disregarding all standards, both social and scientific, in conducting this so-called "experiment".
A lot of PhDs already do not have great job prospects after finishing as it is... the university can only employ a small percentage of them after they have obtained their PhD. Why would the university want even more PhDs? Neither the university, nor society at large has a demand for even more PhD graduates!
If we switch to the bursary system, PhD students are no longer allowed to teach, while teaching experience is important if an academic career. We thus obstruct their opportunities to prepare for the future. I also think it is strange that indeed there would be two 'classes' of PhD students.
I am not a bursary student. But if a colleague does the same work as me, they should get the same money and have the same rights. The "bursary experiment" is not an acceptable way to treat PhDs - the workhorses of the academic hierarchy.
I was part of a kind of bursary PhD student and I had very bad experience regarding with salary payment, delays, money for experiments etc. I do not want more foreign student suffer the same
Bad idea, both at the national level, and at the local level.
Disagree with this project. A four year job without employee rights and social security is a bad deal. If I was offered such a contract I would say NO.
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WE WON!! THE UNIVERSITY COUNCIL VOTED AGAINST THE BURSARY EXPERIMENT AND PROTECTED THE STATUS OF OUR STUDENTS!! I AM ABSOLUTELY THRILLED THAT OUR PRESSURE FOR AN OPEN DISCUSSION LED TO THIS RESULT!! WE WILL STAY VIGILANT BUT FOR TODAY LET US CELEBRATE THIS MASSIVE TRIUMPH!!
April 23, 2016
Final supporters
A group of officials wants that the University of Groningen takes part in the so-called Bursary Experiment. This would mean 850 bursary PhD-students in the upcoming 4 years, next to the regular PhD positions with employee status. Next Thursday (February 25th) your representatives at the University Council will be voting for/against the proposal to join the experiment.
Up until now, the general public has not been informed about the details of the proposal or given a forum to raise questions and get answers. For a quick overview of what this is about, you can find it in these articles (here and here). As a member of the University (PhD candidate/student, Master student, Professor, Staff, Technician, ...), you should be able to voice your opinion on whether the University of Groningen should take part in the experiment or not. Answers should be given to all members of the University who will be affected before the decision is taken.
How is this Bursary Experiment different from the one that was abandoned ten years ago for good reasons? How will the University cope with the additional supervision load? How will the the quality be ensured for all PhD students education, and how will we cover its additional costs, seeing that many Graduate Schools are already beyond their capacity? How will the University prevent a 2-class system of PhD students? How will financial and social security be ensured for bursary students?
If you think an open discussion should be held before the University Council takes any decision, make your voice heard via this petition.
This will be officially sent to your representatives in the University Council before they have the meeting to decide on the participation in the experiment (Thursday, February 25th).
Make sure you sign and share this with anyone you think should be involved in this decision process.
Groningen Graduate Interest Network (GRIN)
Updates
Reached 100 supporters
February 22, 2016
68 Comments
Having 2 (or more) types of PhD contracts is just unfair. All PhD candidates should be treated as employees, not as students, including all the rights and responsibilities. Also, bursary system is especially unjust for foreigners who usually don't know the details (and consequences) of their contracts beforehand.
As the University is pushing harder procedures and regulations for scientific integrity, it is shocking to see that the board is disregarding all standards, both social and scientific, in conducting this so-called "experiment".
A lot of PhDs already do not have great job prospects after finishing as it is... the university can only employ a small percentage of them after they have obtained their PhD. Why would the university want even more PhDs? Neither the university, nor society at large has a demand for even more PhD graduates!
If we switch to the bursary system, PhD students are no longer allowed to teach, while teaching experience is important if an academic career. We thus obstruct their opportunities to prepare for the future. I also think it is strange that indeed there would be two 'classes' of PhD students.
I am not a bursary student. But if a colleague does the same work as me, they should get the same money and have the same rights. The "bursary experiment" is not an acceptable way to treat PhDs - the workhorses of the academic hierarchy.
I was part of a kind of bursary PhD student and I had very bad experience regarding with salary payment, delays, money for experiments etc. I do not want more foreign student suffer the same
Bad idea, both at the national level, and at the local level.
Disagree with this project. A four year job without employee rights and social security is a bad deal. If I was offered such a contract I would say NO.
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Share this petition to help it reach more people.
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Having 2 (or more) types of PhD contracts is just unfair. All PhD candidates should be treated as employees, not as students, including all the rights and responsibilities. Also, bursary system is especially unjust for foreigners who usually don't know the details (and consequences) of their contracts beforehand.