I had the pleasure to organize a panel discussion on AI and the future of science for Max Planck postdocs, moderated with Jeremias Brand.

Panelists:
1.     Dr. Ian Robertson, Research Fellow at PAIR, Centre for Philosophy and AI research, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg 
2.     Prof. Dr. Isabel Valera, Professor on Machine Learning at the Department of Computer Science of Saarland University in Saarbrücken (Germany)
3.     Dr. Caitlin Corrigan, Executive Director of Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence, Technical University Munich
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Concept and Aim of the Panel:
Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged not only as a powerful tool but as an impetus for breakthroughs in scientific research and innovation, transforming research methodologies, accelerating data analysis, and raising the capabilities of researchers themselves. Given the many AI tools available for researchers, to what extent should AI be part of ‘doing research’? Should AI be only a tool to assist? Should AI be part of the creative process of doing science, such as generating scientific ideas? This panel aims to bring together experts from diverse backgrounds to explore the intersection of AI technology, ethics, and scientific research. 
Based upon the definitions and distinction utilized by the Nationale Strategie für Künstliche Intelligenz wherein “strong” AI refers to AI systems with the same intellectual capabilities of humans and “weak” AI refers to systems developed to support human thinking and solve specific problems, we will focus on ethical considerations regarding “weak” AI through three main topics of discussion: research, bias and fairness, and transparency and accountability.

I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with the President of the Max Planck Society to talk all things relating to Max Planck postdocs! Our enlightening and stimulating conversation includes internationality of postdocs in the MPG, mental health measures, the WissZeitVG, mobility and challenges of dual career postdocs, and even a personal story from Professor Cramer's time as a postdoc.

My interview with Professor Cramer, President of the Max Planck Society, will be shown for the first time on 5 November 2024 at the General Meeting of PostdocNet at the MPI for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen. Stay tuned for the full video, which will be made available shortly after our General Meeting.

I was delighted to be invited by ICoRSA to present in their workshop on precarity in early research career stages. My presentation, "Advocating for Postdocs in Germany: From Working Contracts to Science Policy," gave an overview of the work we have done in PostdocNet advocating for postdocs to be on contracts, not stipends and further for international postdocs to be properly staged at E13.3. I also shared about our active efforts in voicing the concerns of postdocs regarding the reform of the WissZeitVG in Germany, the law governing fixed-term contracts for academics.

It was such an honor to be chosen as one of 24,000! I had a blast being interviewed for MAX mag, the official magazine of the Max Planck Society. Check it out below!

I had the absolute pleasure to share about my research in the research report of Katja Kraus'e's research group. Read it here: Wissenschaft und Erfahrung: Wissenschaftsgeschichte neu geschrieben

As Spokesperson of PostdocNet, I had the privilege to critically discuss postodoctoral concerns on the WissZeitVG reform in Germany with many wonderful postdoc networks throughout Germany. We released a public statement which you can read here: ​Stellungnahme zum Bundeskabinettsbeschluss der WissZeitVG-Novelle vom 27. März 2024

Excerpt from the Monitoring Bericht of the Leopoldina