Mobility
Mobility is of key significance for early-career researchers. It impacts both their individual career opportunities (e.g., when applying for competitive grants) and network building within the scientific community.
- Career advancement: International experience is considered a valuable qualification and can be a decisive factor for professorial appointments and promotions.
- Network building: Mobility enables the establishment of international scientific networks, which are essential for collaborations and publications.
- Knowledge exchange: Exchange between universities and research institutions is conducive to the transfer of ideas and methods.
- Personal development: Mobility strengthens intercultural and language skills. It also promotes independence and adaptability.
That said, the need to be geographically mobile brings its challenges. Mobility is not equally accessible to all, e.g., for family or financial reasons. Some researchers also fear that they may lose touch with the original job market during their stay abroad, or they are concerned about gaps in their social insurance coverage.
These challenges and obstacles have led to growing calls for a broader definition of mobility. Mobility is also possible between different industries, between the public and private sector, as well as between scientific disciplines. What is more, networking, knowledge exchange and international cooperation can be done through virtual collaborations, without having to change location (online conferences, digital forms of collaboration in research projects).
Cross-sector mobility
Cross-sector mobility refers to switching between different sectors – e.g., from science to industry, public administration, NGOs, or vice-versa. Gaining professional experience outside of academia early on is worth doing, e.g., in research within companies, in science communication, in public administration or foundations. Even later on in an academic career, switching between different sectors can be enriching; for instance, experience gained in industry can provide valuable impetus for innovative research questions and collaborations.
Whereas geographical, international mobility has the strong support of funding agencies and is often even expected –particularly in the postdoc phase–, cross-sector mobility has garnered little or no attention so far.
Inter- and transdisciplinarity
Mobility can also take place within the university, between different disciplines. It is important for researchers to look beyond their own research field and to collaborate in inter- and transdisciplinary projects with researchers from other disciplines. This is particularly true in the context of global crises that raise complex questions in areas such as sustainability and politics and pose complex challenges. Consequently, it is wise for early-career researchers to expand their own network in a transdisciplinary manner, to thus find innovative and creative questions, broaden their methodological skills and increase the social relevance of their own research.
Within the scope of its Strategy 2030, the University of Bern, as a comprehensive university, has set the goal of exploiting its potential in inter- and transdisciplinarity by bolstering the permeability of structures at faculty, departmental and institute level. To that end, the faculties and the University’s Executive Board are in the process of developing strategic centers, graduate schools, centers of excellence, platforms and networks.