Book lecture: Precarious employment in science

Book lecture (in German) on 23rd of June 2023, 6:15pm, kleiner Hörsaal Bismarckstr. 1a Erlangen.

Since 2007, the Academic Temporary Contract Act has made working conditions and career prospects for mid-level academics precarious: the majority of scientists work their way from one fixed-term job to the next, and those who do not have a permanent position after twelve years are finally out of the system. When a video by the Ministry of Research came into focus in 2021, in which the supposed advantages of the law were praised using the example of the fictional biologist “Hanna”, Amrei Bahr, Kristin Eichhorn and Sebastian Kubon launched the hashtag #IchBinHanna.

Within a few hours, countless scientists vented their anger. They describe the effects of precariousness on their lives, reports of overwork and depression. The media took up the topic and a little later »Hanna« even made it into the Bundestag. In their polemic, the initiators explain the consequences of the »WissZeitVG« for researchers and students, but also for Germany as a location for science and our society as a whole. They summarize the field reports under #IchBinHanna and present their demands for better working conditions in research and teaching. Speaker: Kristin Eichhorn, co-editor of the book «#IchBinHanna. Precarious science in Germany», represents a professorship for modern German literature at the University of Stuttgart. She gives us an insight into the background and history of the #IchBinHanna campaign, talks about the precarious situation for scientists and the Science Contract Act. Afterwards there will be the opportunity for joint discussion. An event organized by GEW Studis FAU and the Kurt-Eisner-Verein.