It is now close to a month since Eurodoc had its annual conference and general meeting. From June 7th-10th, delegates from all over Europe gathered in Uppsala, Sweden first for the annual conference and then the annual general meeting of Eurodoc. The weather was perfect, the company was even better, and all in all the event was a success and we would again like to extend our thanks to the local organisers, the Swedish Network of Postdoc Organisations, the Fackförbundet ST, and the local university - a huge thank you for a splendid event.
The conference was filled with discussions on how to make academia more sustainable, and if you were unable to attend, don't worry, you can find all the panel discussions online at our Youtube channel via https://bit.ly/Eurodoc-Conference-2023. It was the first time since the onset of the COVID pandemic that Eurodoc's annual conference was not a purely online event! It was amazing to experience the atmosphere, be part of lively discussions and get to meet some of our closest collaborators, some of them for the very first time.
In Eurodoc, the two-day conference was followed by our Annual General Meeting (AGM). This is where Eurodoc elects its administration and agrees on what will be the focus of the upcoming year. From the elections until the end of the month, the incoming and outgoing administration work in collaboration to ensure a good handover. Today is July 1st, and thus it marks the first day of the month after the AGM, meaning that now, the handover period is over, the old administration has left its position and a new administration is in place.
The new Eurodoc administration consists, besides the 6 members of the administrative board, of 11 working group coordinators and 6 members of the communication team. Besides this we have an advisory board of 6 people and countless volunteers in Eurodoc and our member National Association contributing to advocating for improved conditions of higher education, research, and researchers. What should be clear is that advocacy work is a team sport and it takes a village to make change happen.
In the coming two months, things usually appear to be slowing down due to summer. We will take the opportunity to introduce the new team: Over the coming weeks we will be presenting the members of the Eurodoc administration on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn pages.
On behalf of the Eurodoc administration 2023/2024
Sebastian Dahle and Pil Maria Saugmann