The University of Bremen is expanding its cooperation with world-leading universities. As the University’s Vice President Research, Professor Andreas Breiter, explains, the purpose is to promote young researchers and offering them the best possible support, “We have therefore joined the US-American SERU network”, he says. Embedded in the renowned Berkeley Center for Studies in Higher Education, SERU stands for “Student Experience in the Research University.” The international consortium undertakes comparative studies of the situation of students and Ph.D. candidates worldwide with the aim of bringing about improvements and reacting more quickly to their changing needs.
Learning from each other
The SERU network now spans the entire globe: Besides the almost 30 renowned universities in the US, its members already include more than 20 other universities in the Netherlands, Great Britain, Sweden, China, Japan, and Australia. The University of Bremen is the first official member in Germany. “We are confident that other German universities will also join quite soon”, says the Vice President, who goes on to explain, “SERU opens up opportunities to learn from other internationally renowned research universities through the exchange of views and experiences.”
Large-scale survey
To build a more accurate picture of the concerns and needs of young academics at individual research universities, SERU members are currently participating in a comprehensive survey of Ph.D. students worldwide. The University of Bremen will also take part. Planned to start in the fall, the coordination will be in the hands of BYRD, the University’s new center for young researcher development. BYRD, formerly the ProUB graduate center, stands for “Bremen Early Career Researcher Development”. It offers cost-free offers of trainings, networking, information and advice in the form of workshops, individual coaching and seminars for young researchers at every career level.
Engagement on the national level
In its efforts to optimize young researcher development, the University of Bremen not only seeks exchange with other research universities on the international level. Since May, Vice President Andreas Breiter is an active board member of a university consortium for young researcher development in Germany called Universitätsverband zur Qualifizierung des wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses in Deutschland e.V. – or UniWiND for short. This forum has set itself the task of optimizing conditions for the training of Ph.D. candidates and early-career researchers when they enter the post-doc stage. The idea is to create the best possible opportunities for future careers both within as well as outside university research.
If you would like to have more information on this topic, feel free to contact:
University of Bremen
The Rectorate
Vice President Research
Prof.Dr. Andreas Breiter
Phone: +49 421 218-60021
email: kon1protect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
BYRD (Bremen Early Career Researcher Development)
Dr. Diana Ebersberger
Phone: +49 421 218-60309
email: ebersbergerprotect me ?!vw.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
