Steering Group
The Steering Group is the main contact between doctoral researchers and the Headquarters of Max Planck Society in Munich. They coordinate the communication within the PhDnet and outside of it. The members of the steering group are elected annually at the General Meeting and assume office each year on January 1st.
Some of the main tasks are managing the representation of PhDnet within the MPS and to the public, problem-solving, overseeing the work of the PhDnet working groups and voluntary involvement in MPS wide working groups (e.g., together with the GA).
In addition to the fixed responsibilities of each office, the SG members adopt responsibilities for other organs: each Working Group is supported by at least one SG member.






The Steering Group consists of a spokesperson, three representatives for the different sections (BM/CPT/HS), the deputy spokesperson (financial officer) and the general secretary. The members of our current Steering Group are:
Spokesperson | Muhammad Osama Iqbal |
Deputy spokesperson (financial officer) | Elizaveta Bobkova |
General secretary | Franziska Schulz |
BM section representative | Maria Elisa Almeida Goes |
CPT section representative | Jaswanth Subramanyam |
HS section representative | Alicia Haripershad |
Agenda of Steering Group 2023
... soon to come ...
Agenda of Steering Group 2022

With the new year, the elected representatives of PhDnet have changed, forming a new Steering Group for 2022. As your Steering Group, we advocate for around 5000 doctoral researchers working within the Max Planck Society, representing DRs’ interests, and deeply collaborating with the General Administration of MPS and other representative bodies.
In 2022, we have three key goals:
Improving Working Conditions
- Advocating for 4-year minimum contract duration, establishing criteria for contract extensions
- Seeking solutions to transition external stipends into contracts, so that all MPS-affiliated DRs have equal levels of compensation and security
- Encouraging DRs to take advantage of the 30 holidays that are included in their contracts
Better Support Structures
- Continuing collaboration with General Administration on smooth onboarding, including information about diversity, (prevention of) power abuse, mental health, and PhDnet
- Improvement and propagation of supervision agreements that describe expectations and obligations of DRs and their supervisors
- Consistent implementation of thesis advisory committees (TACs) including 360° supervision assessments
- Supporting our increasingly diverse academic community through initiatives like the Safer Spaces program
Enhancing Connections
- Promoting communication channels between the PhDnet Steering Group, representatives from each institute, and the larger population of doctoral researchers
- Establishing stronger links of doctoral researchers between institutes and within sections of the MPS
- Improved social media presence for PhDnet
We are always open for input on any topic! For this, questions, and advice don't hesitate to contacts us via steering.group@phdnet.mpg.de
We are looking forward to an interactive year!