Principles of effective career support in academia

These ten principles summarise how the framework conditions for doctoral researchers and postdocs should be organised. They are intended as a guide for DFG member institutions and for institutions and individuals who receive funding from the DFG that is used to finance academic staff. By laying down these principles, the DFG seeks to help ensure “that the appropriate measures and structures for supporting early career researchers are increasingly well established and ultimately become the norm,” according to DFG Vice President Professor Dr. Marlis Hochbruck.

They are to be understood as a supplement to the DFG’s Code of Conduct “Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice,” since they address individual issues in greater depth. Unlike the Code guidelines and explanations, the principles do not have to be implemented on a legally binding basis by higher education institutions and non-HEI research institutions in order to receive funding from the DFG. However, compliance with them is an integral part of academic activity and an aspect of quality assurance in research and supervision. In addition, the framework conditions described in the principles are used as a guideline for the review and decision-making process.