Doctoral councils all over Germany met in Berlin at September 26th to found the German association of doctoral researchers („Bundesverband Promovierende e.V.“). The executive board around the two speakers Timo Eckstein (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg) and Benita Schmitz (Halle/Wittenberg) expressed the aim to fight for better working conditions for researchers in Germany.

The newly formed association arises from a loose network of over 50 doctoral representations. This network represented ca. 60% of all doctoral researchers in Germany and spoke for their interest in the discussion about the WissZeitVG. The founding board is formed by Benita Schmitz (Halle/Wittenberg), Deepa Elizabath John (Heidelberg), Dennis Lopatta (Hamburg), Julian Plitzko(Jena), João Godoy (Erfurt), Jonas Breustedt (Ulm), Leonie Telgmann (Hannover), Nils Bühler (Köln), Maren Weissig (Dresden), Sankalp Choudhuri (München) and Timo Eckstein (Erlangen/Nürnberg). Those already represent over 25% of the 200 000 doctoral researchers working at German universities and institutes.