Supporting science

Fear of making mistakes is the real risk!

Moritz Badel, Head of the Division for Human Resources, responsible for HR strategy and management, advises senior staff and, together with his department and in collaboration with the Graduate Academy, oversees staff development at the University of Jena.

Only those who do nothing make no mistakes. What matters is that we learn from our mistakes together and do better moving forward. Constructive and empathetic feedback is the key to this. Through our staff development programmes, we are working to provide the University of Jena’s managers with the tools they need to implement a constructive feedback and learning culture within their areas of responsibility.

In complex systems, diversity becomes a crucial resource.

Dr Claudia Hillinger is Head of the International Office and strengthens global partnerships, mobility and services for students and researchers in Jena.

Strategic networking is essential given the increasing complexity and dynamics of global research and education landscapes. In my day-to-day work, I see that effective support for research is more than just efficient organization—it is a dynamic process that must take institutional, cultural and individual characteristics into account. It is clear that standard solutions rarely work, particularly in an international context. Rather, strategic action requires the ability to understand differences, bridge them and turn them into productive opportunities. »Networked thinking« there- fore also means seeing diversity as a resource.

Efficiency requires transparency!

Julia Straubel is Head of the Section for Financial Management and, together with her team, is responsible for financial planning, budgeting and the management of third-party funding, among other things.

For me, using resources efficiently means ensuring transparency through clear structures and processes with regard to how equipment is allocated and the extent to which it is utilized across all areas of the university. This requires centrally collected data, as well as clearly defined and accessible processes, to avoid duplication of effort and to deploy resources in a targeted manner. A cost efficient use of resources and a greater concentration of funds in centralized areas rather than across the board are crucial in this respect—even if this requires putting personal interests aside for the greater good.

Reliability comes from knowing and acknowleding one's limits.

Dr Andreas Klinger is Director of the Thuringian University and State Library (ThULB). 

For me, effective organization also means clearly defining service levels. For the ThULB, as a university library, this means that we focus on the needs of academia and the university and, on this basis, we transparently determine which services we can provide and to what extent. Only a service unit organized in this way—that understands its capabilities and limitations and communicates both of these openly—can deliver on the reliability it promises.

People are behind every decision—this must be our guiding principle.

Dr Gunda Huskobla is the Director of the Graduate Academy and is responsible for funding, programmes and services for doctoral candidates and postdocs in Jena.