120%-Care-Grant

On 1 August 2019, the new Postdoc regulations came into effect. The Postdoctoral researchers job category is a new category for people who are pursuing an academic career. The postdoctoral researchers will replace the former categories "Oberassistenzen" and assistantships with a doctorate (see Postdoc Regulations).

Postdoctoral research is essentially a full-time job. As a rule, the level of employment is between 80 and 100 percent of a full-time workload. For personal reasons, e.g. care responsibilities, the Executive Board of the University of Bern may permit a level of employment lower than 80 percent.

On 18 February 2020, the Executive Board of the University of Bern issued the Regulations on the 120% Care Grant for postdoctoral researchers.

• The Care Grant makes it possible for postdoctoral researchers with care responsibilities, who have a level of employment of between 80% and 100%, to reduce their level of employment for up to 12 months to at least 60%.
• In order to ensure that any duties which cannot be performed due to the reduction in the level of employment are still performed, a support person will be employed whose hours overlap with a maximum of 20% of those of the postdoctoral researcher (as a rule, a total level of employment of 120% applies).
• The institute makes the points freed up through the reduction available for employing the support person, and the University Executive Board finances the overlapping hours (max. 20%).
• The support person performs duties which in the respective academic context are directly required for postdoctoral researchers’ academic careers. The activities which a support person is employed to perform must be recorded in the Postdoc Agreement (for more information about the Postdoc-Agreement, see uniintern > Dienstleistungen > Personal > Index A-Z > Postdoktorat).