“It is so common that it has been given its own name: the postdoc-trap,” says Tina Angerer. The researcher had hoped to get a permanent employment contract after studying biology in Austria, writing a PhD in Sweden, and working as a postdoc in the United States, but had to accept that this was not going to happen. The coronavirus pandemic has also done nothing to improve the situation.
The 35-year-old Austrian is working as a postdoctoral researcher in Luxembourg this time. While she expresses gratitude for receiving a two-year contract during the epidemic, the practise of endlessly signing fixed-term contracts has long been a concern in the scientific community.
According to Angerer, there are more and more postdoc positions and only few permanent jobs. The result is that researchers with a PhD increasingly live “postdoc-to-postdoc” and find it increasingly difficult to find permanent employment.
The new convention between the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the University of Luxembourg, and the public research centres reflects the trend from abroad, according to the Independent Luxembourg Trade Union Confederation (OGBL). Until 2025, the convention projects an increase in fixed-term contracts. The share of fixed-term employment contracts at Uni.lu, for example, will rise from 55.2% to 60%.
“These are often people around the age of 30, who are starting a family, who are possibly buying their own home, people who truly need planning security that goes beyond five years,” says Fréderic Krier, secretary general of the SEW/OGBL trade union. According to Krier, it is challenging to even get a loan in such a situation.
“In public research, PhD students hold 50% of fixed-term contracts, while postdocs hold the remaining 50%,” says Léon Diederich, Senior Advisor at the Ministry of Higher Education. The “external funding of research projects” is one possible explanation for the potential increase in fixed-term contracts in the coming years.
These projects, according to Diederich, usually span three to five years and are mostly carried out by PhD students and postdocs. The funding for these types of projects is expected to increase more than the core funding provided by the Ministry. The figures specified in the agreement, however, are “merely projections,” not “set targets,” according to the senior civil servant. The number of fixed-term contracts in public research has remained “relatively stable” over the past three years.
The OGBL demands more, not fewer permanent employment contracts, arguing that this is not only in the interest of researchers but also Luxembourg as a research location and would help “keep knowledge and skills in the country”.
Diederich counters that, according to the European Commission, Luxembourg remains appealing for researchers. The senior civil servant also points out that the fixed-term contracts are limited to young researchers only. While writing their PhD in Luxembourg, candidates must already receive a salary and access to social security, something “which is not always the case in other countries,” according to Diederich.
For Tina Angerer, on the other hand, it is clear that only the companies or the research centres benefit from the overwhelming number of fixed-term contracts in the scientific community.
Young scientists, Angerer argues, provide a company with “a lot of new knowledge” but the company does not have to provide the scientists with stability in return.
That being said, Tina Angerer’s own wish for more stability has actually been granted. But not by Luxembourg. She has found permanent employment in Sweden and is currently preparing to move there with her husband.
The full report by RTL Télé (in Luxembourgish):
