VMB, Association of Scientific Staff
Verein des Mittelbaus
The VMB (Verein des Mittelbaus D-BSSE) - also called Association of Scientific Staff D-BSSE - is the official voice of both doctoral and postdoctoral researchers to actively shape life at D-BSSE. The association acts as a link between employees and department leadership and strives to make D-BSSE not only a place of academic excellence but also an attractive work environment.
We organize bi-weekly meetings where we discuss the latest happenings and important issues at D-BSSE. You are always welcome to join these meetings and raise your concerns with us!
The VMB is currently organized in the following working groups:
1. The Board
The board represents the association to the outside and organizes the smooth operation of the subgroups. Roles to be filled are President, Vice-President/Treasurer, and Secretary. These are the roles mandated by Swiss law. Additionally, there are two reviewers that check the finances. These reviewers are obligatory to have and cannot be part of the board.
2. Politics and DK Representatives
The politics team works on all issues regarding regulations, codes and ordinances governing staff life. They attend politics meetings of AVETH, draft official communications, ideas for new regulations and our stance on ETH initiatives (e.g. the new measures to enhance doctorates at ETH). The representatives attend the department conference and the occasional meeting of departmental commissions, where they vote on behalf of the association.
3. The Events Team
The events team collects ideas for new events, (co-)organizes the PhD/BSSE retreat, sports events, the Basel life science party, pub crawls, financial literacy seminars, the intradepartmental seminar series, and many more!
4. The Media & Communications Team
This team runs the association website and Twitter, creates our contributions to AVETH info material and makes sure we’re part of the DBSSE-internal marketing.
5. The Counseling Team
The counseling team coordinates with the central counseling service of AVETH to advise staff that experience emotional or professional difficulties.
The Board
Ashley Maynard
Co-President
Malte Mederacke
Co-President
Wujy (Tony) Cao
Secretary
Johanna Haffner
Treasurer
Politics and DK representatives
Robert Strutt
Head of Politics & DK Representative
Ashley Maynard
DK Representative
Filip Bochner
DK Representative
Antoine Zwaans
DK Representative
Simona Baghai
DK Representative
Teaching Comission (UK) representatives
UK = Unterrichtkomission, where students meet with study coordinators
Quentin Badolle
UK Representative
Andreas Agrafiotis
UK Representative
Counselling team
See more about the Counselling Team here.
Xenia Ficht
Person of Trust
Nassim Rousset
Person of Trust
Elena Guido Vinzoni
Person of Trust
Adrian Lison
Person of Trust
Events team
See more about the events organised by VMB here.
Johanna Haffner
Head of Scientific Events
Nassim Rousset
Head of Social Events
Media & Communications team
Roman Vetter
Head of Media Team
Your contributions are very important and welcome! If you would like to help us organize events, welcome newcomers to the department or represent your peers at department conferences, we’re always glad to have you on board!
Every member of the VMB is invited to vote or run for office in the association’s elections, and we organize monthly meetings (see 'Meetings' tab) that you can freely attend to stay updated with the latest happenings at D-BSSE. For your peace of mind, VMB is very uncomplicated - we are all busy scientists and understand that it's very hard to make any time out of your research work. Therefore you can freely walk into a VMB meeting whenever you want!
"Am I already a member of VMB?"
You are automatically a member of the VMB if you are:
- Doctoral or postdoctoral researcher at the D-BSSE
- Member of the AVETH (Association of Scientific Staff ETH)
You can check if you are a member of AVETH in your payslip (the monthly contribution is usually deducted from your salary). If you are still not a member of AVETH and you would like to join, you just need to visit their website and fill in the corresponding form.
The VMB meets once a month (usually on Friday) to discuss all sorts of issues related to life at D-BSSE. While active members try to participate more often, everyone is welcome to join these meetings and share any concerns/ideas with all of us!
VMB meetings are happening every first Friday of the month from 12:00 - 13.30, normally in the E 54 meeting room.
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Politics Team meetings
VMB's Politics Team also hosts a monthly meeting open to everyone, where you can join and bring up topics or get involved.
Meetings are normally on the second Tuesday of the month around 12 in the Science Café (2nd floor of building 1055), but do reach out to us on Slack or via email for a specific date (or if you wish to join via Zoom).
The upcoming dates in 2024 are:
- January 12th
- February 2nd
- March 1st
- April 5th
- May 3rd
- June 7th
- July 5th
- August 2nd
- September 6th
- October 4th
- November 1st
The 2024 Department's Conferences (DK), where we represent VMB's voice, will take place on the following Tuesdays:
- February 6th
- May 14th
- September 17th
- November 26nd
D-BSSE Survey Report
DownloadD-BSSE Survey Report 2020 (PDF, 3.5 MB)vertical_align_bottom
Protocols from past general assemblies
DownloadGeneral Assembly 2022 (PDF, 51 KB)vertical_align_bottom
DownloadGeneral Assembly 2021 (PDF, 67 KB)vertical_align_bottom
DownloadGeneral Assembly 2019 (PDF, 26.3 MB)vertical_align_bottom
DownloadGeneral Assembly 2018, II (PDF, 443 KB)vertical_align_bottom
DownloadGeneral Assembly 2018, I (PDF, 2.5 MB)vertical_align_bottom
DownloadGeneral Assembly 2017 (PDF, 494 KB)vertical_align_bottom
DownloadGeneral Assembly 2013 (PDF, 29 KB)vertical_align_bottom
DownloadGeneral Assembly 2011-2012 (PDF, 45 KB)vertical_align_bottom
Presentations from past general assemblies
DownloadGeneral Assembly 2017 Presentation (PDF, 2.5 MB)vertical_align_bottom
DownloadGeneral Assembly 2016 Presentation (PDF, 1.3 MB)vertical_align_bottom
By-laws of the VMB
DownloadStatuen 2011 (German) (PDF, 186 KB)vertical_align_bottom
DownloadBy-laws 2011 (English translation) (PDF, 66 KB)vertical_align_bottom