Where to start from… Being embedded in an environment as well as in a system and understanding its influences and logic have always fascinated me. During my exchange year in Ireland, at Trinity College Dublin, I had a very important insight: a professor in organizational studies was discussing case studies and then turned to the students and asked: “What would you do in this situation?” After several rounds of guessing, I promptly realized

Introduction In December 2018, a University of Minnesota web librarian, Cody Hanson, participated in a workshop hosted by the Coalition for Networked Information. The topic of this, and a number of other events to date, is the drive by major scholarly publishers to more fully integrate authentication systems for accessing electronic media into their platforms.

“Researchers say that their working culture is best when it is collaborative, inclusive, supportive and creative, when researchers are given time to focus on their research priorities, when leadership is transparent and open, and when individuals have a sense of safety and security.

Letters of reference (LORs) from early career researchers (ECRs) laboratory leaders are an integral part in moving ECRs to their next position.

Today is the day Julia has been dreaming about since the first day of her PhD program – it’s interview day at the American Economics Association (AAEA) Annual Conference. As her phone plays her familiar morning alarm, Julia jumps out of bed, bright-eyed and hopeful for the 10 interviews she has scheduled for the day. She irons her power skirt and navy blouse carefully, ensuring she leaves no creases uncreased.

This article results from a cooperation within N², a network of the Helmholtz Juniors, Leibniz PhD Network and Max Planck PhDnet. The International PhD Program Mainz (IPP) is an associated member of N². Representing more than 16.000 doctoral researchers, it is the biggest network of doctoral researchers in Germany.

Description It has been well recognized that power distribution plays an important role in economic development.

Introduction Very early on in my PhD I decided that a life as researcher and university lecturer was not for me. I very much enjoyed talking and hearing about research, the constant “vibe of knowledge” buzzing in the air on a university campus, and, yes, I felt that research was important for understanding the world we live in, past and present. However, I did not want to spend more time in archives or secluded at my desk.

Introduction Katrin Martens As a young researcher, I have already worked in three large collaborative projects dealing with innovation governance in land use contexts. Transdisciplinarity was always a topic in my past work, but for me each of these projects had a different flavor of transdisciplinarity and brought me different insights.

2020 was different for all of us to say the least and only time will tell what this pandemic will mean for our futures – personally and professionally. Science has taken center stage during this year and thus, a lot of issues that were previously only discussed within the community have gained more attention from society. After an eventful year we would like to take a look back at the Elephants in the Lab of the Year.