VMB, Association of Scientific Staff

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.