To this end, two Codes of Conduct were drafted with multiple feedback loops from the Steering Committee members and the four DSPLs. The Codes were unanimously voted into effect and are therefore brought to all CoBeNe PI’s and PhD’s attention. There is a general Code of Conduct which creates a common foundation for all four CoBeNe disciplines (attachment 1) and, additionally, a specification of the general Code that considers the special constraints within the Faculty of Psychology which has been discussed with Psychology’s SPLs beforehand (attachment 2). 

Both PIs and PhDs have received an email asking them to familiarize themselves with the guidelines we set for our doctoral school with this Code and the research-cultural ideas of fairness and appreciation of PhD candidates’ work and involvement in student supervision that lie behind it. The idea behind the Code is in no way to hinder you from taking on tasks which you enjoy; rather, it aims to empower PhDs to choose whether and to which extent they want to participate in student supervision, and to ensure PhDs to get fair recognition for the work they put in. As such, the Code is something PhDs can reference when negotiating these tasks with their supervisor(s), and the VDS CoBeNe office and PhD representatives are available to assist in case of conflicts or difficulties navigating these conversations. 

Please direct any questions towards the respective DSPL or PhD representative (Martin Voracek/Julia Reiter for Psychology, Jutta Müller/Anna Miscenà for Cognitive Humanities, Thomas Hummel/Stephan Lechner for Neuroscience, Thomas Bugnyar/Daria Nagel for Behavior and Cognitive Biology) or via the PhD Slack: join.slack.com/t/cobene-phds-workspace/shared_invite/zt-xwsv5nly-4WNfSZ_E1Cpz35YHES_ZyA