actionuni, Swiss Researchers Association

• Campaign Petition Academia

actionuni der Schweizer Mittelbau represents young researchers as well as the associations of non-professorial academic staff of the Swiss cantonal universities, the Federal Institutes of Technology, the Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences, and the Swiss Universities of Teacher Education on the Swiss national as well as the international level. actionuni’s objectives are to improve the academic career tracks and to coordinate the activities of the Swiss associations of non-professorial academic staff.

Key Dates

• 2000: Foundation of the Comité actionuni in Neuchâtel by eight researchers, PhD candidates and postdocs from the University of Neuchâtel (Ph. Curty), University of Bern (C. Wirth, G. Albano), University of Fribourg (Ch. Aebischer) and ETHZ (K. Wirth, F. Bürgel).
• 2001: Start of Petition "For a Right and Efficient Scientific Research"
• 2001: Meeting with Gottfried Schatz president of the Swiss Science and Innovation Council
• 2002: More than 2000 signatures are collected and the petition is sent to the Federal Counsellor Pascal Couchepin.
• 2003: First meeting between the associations of young researchers and actionuni
• 2003: Young researchers associations of swiss universities are now member of actionuni with new statutes.
• 2004: actionuni takes over the former association MVHS.
• 2005: actionuni is now a national association representing young researchers associations at the federal and european level.
• 2006: actionuni becomes a member of Eurodoc the European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers.
• 2008: First meeting with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) in Bern.
• 2008: Organization fo the Eurodoc annual conference in Fribourg 2-6 April 2008
• 2009: actionuni writes a report on the situation of young resesearchers (Mittelbau) in Switzerland. The report is supported and financed by the SBFI. Zur Lage des akademischen Mittelbaus (Ch. Young, Ph. Curty, M. Hirt, K. Wirth Bürgel, SBFI, ISSN: 1662-2634)
• 2012: actionuni became a member of the Foundation Council, the highest decision-making body of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
• 2014: Associations of the universities of applied sciences are now members of actionuni.