Supervision

At least two persons are named in a postdoctoral agreement who are responsible for supervising the respective postdoc. One of the persons listed is the postdoc’s main supervisor.

The University of Bern has various options in place, in the event of conflicts with the supervisors, one being the triage office of the MVUB (Intermediate Staff Association of the University of Bern) that offers easily accessible support to all intermediate staff members in the event of difficulties or conflicts.

Mentoring and advising

It is also important in academia to be able to count on the opinion of reliable experts at key moments – whether it be concerning difficulties with the content of applications and grants, or in regard to general challenges with career planning. The University of Bern provides a range of options that can be used to receive individual feedback and for further personal development:

Faculties

There are various faculty and university mentoring programs primarily for women, as well as a coaching program for female postdocs.

Selective subject-specific support is available; a case in point is the Department for BioMedical Research that supports medical researchers with submitting applications for SNSF project funding.

Grants Office

The Grants Office of the Vice-Rectorate Research supports candidates applying for a career-promoting SNSF or ERC grant.

BNF National Qualification Progamme

The BNF National Qualification Programme offers job-search coaching for academics.

Universities of Bern Counselling Centre

The Universities of Bern Counselling Centre supports junior executives with individual executive coaching.