COVID-19: general information

Here we want to share with you links, documents, statements and general information about everything that is related to the current situation with the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Feel free to share anything else you could find useful for your fellow doctoral researchers by sending it to Isabel Kilian (i.kilian@leibniz-zfmk.de).

Daily COVID-19 situation reports (in English and German) from the Robert-Koch-Institute in Germany

Official statements from the DFG:

Official statements from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF):

  • Press release about the law related to temporary contracts in science (WissZeitVG) (08.04.2020) :
    “Due to the current exceptional situation, the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz (WissZeitVG) will be extended by a temporary transitional regulation: The maximum limits for scientific and artistic employees who are in their qualification phase will be extended for the time of pandemic-related restrictions in the university and scientific operations. Employment agreements for qualification purposes that exist between 1st March 2020 and 30th September 2020 may be extended by an additional six months. In the event that the COVID-19 pandemic should continue, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is authorized to extend the maximum period of employment by a statutory ordinance for a further six months at most, depending on the duration of the crisis.”

    (Accuracy of translation cannot be guaranteed)

Statement of the Leibniz Association headquarters to the board of directors of all institutes:

  • The Leibniz Association confirmed in a letter to the Institutes (on April 7th 2020) that fundings from the Leibniz Competition, Leibniz ScienceCampi, and Leibniz Research Alliances can be extended up to 18 months (or up to two years in single cases). Additional funds to extend doctoral research are not yet intended. If this affects the success of your project, we would be grateful if you share this information with the Leibniz PhD Network (spokesperson@leibniz-phd.net).

On May 30th, 2020, Prof. Dr. Matthias Kleiner (President of the Leibniz Association) send an e-mail to all the management of Leibniz institutes highlighting the current situation of young scientists during this crisis (DE/ENG) ((Accuracy of translation cannot be guaranteed)

In June 2020, the G6 (group of major French, German, Italian, and Spanish science organizations) wrote a declaration urging to increase the budget for Horizon Europe to guarantee the research and innovation that Europe has been doing and reinforce Europe´s global leadership in research.