Reconciliation of family and career
Work-life balance, the reconciliation of professional and personal life, is not merely a private matter but is supported by the Max Planck Society through a range of initiatives.
Certified commitment
Professional challenges compete not infrequently with private family interests. The Max Planck Society offers extensive support to ensure that the two can be sensibly combined. In summary: We take account of the needs of our employees in our working culture. We operate a family-conscious personnel policy, as we want to be an attractive employer for highly qualified employees in an international environment – and to offer a seal of approval in the process. For example, the Max Planck Society, as a scientific organization with all its Institutes, is entitled to display the certification issued by the non-profit company berufundfamilie.
Operational measures which relieve the pressure of childcare on young scientists and non-scientific employees and facilitate their individual career planning, cannot replace the change of social mindset required; nevertheless, they make an important contribution towards equal opportunity – ensuring that the question of "children or career" does not become an either-or-decision, especially for women.
Childcare
Well looked after at Mäxle, Hippos & Co.
Most Max Planck Institutes offer childcare places with cooperation partners on Institute sites or in the facilities of external nurseries. Many Max Planck Institutes also have parent-child offices in which employees can work in the presence of their child in an emergency. We endeavour to find childcare during large-scale Institute events, and we grant financial subsidies for childcare during external conferences.
Family service
When help is needed
Are you in need of a long-term caregiver? Or do you require emergency care at short notice? The Max Planck Society has a framework agreement with a family service company that arranges care for both non-compulsory and compulsory school children up to the age of 14, whether you require a babysitter, an au pair, or even emergency care at short notice. Additionally, assistance is offered for elderly care.
Max Planck consistently endeavors to enhance its family policy within the bounds of the law, incorporating emerging topics such as rainbow families and fatherhood policies into its strategy for achieving a work–life balance.
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Foundation
Buying time with money
The Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Foundation supports talented young female scientists with children who want to create latitude for their scientific activities. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard set up the foundation in 2004 with funds from her Nobel Prize; the Max Planck Society supports it with an annual grant of 30,000 euros.
“Money is the most banal means of buying time”, says the Max Planck Director. “It makes no sense not to have a cleaner, to wear oneself out doing household chores and to run a laboratory at the same time. One should have the courage to spend more money and thereby have more latitude.” Young doctoral students know that but they still try to manage the daily balancing act between career and family. When a decision is made to accept an invitation to a conference and measurement times in the laboratory once again fall at a bad time after the nursery has closed, the finely balanced system consisting of childcare, scientific work and housework, quickly collapses.
To support this purpose, the foundation provides a monthly scholarship of up to €500, awarded for a period of up to one year. The condition is that living costs are covered and all-day childcare already guaranteed. Applications can be submitted by 30 November of each calendar year.
Contact persons for international families
In addition to the contact persons at the International Office, Welcome Centre, or Human Resources Department, some Institutes also have initiatives in which families who have lived in the area for some time serve as first points of contact for newly arrived international families. They provide practical advice and support on family-related matters – for example, when moving house or settling in.
Dual Career Service
Dual career couples
The Max Planck Society recognizes that attracting top researchers requires more than providing an outstanding scientific environment — it must also offer the right overall conditions for researchers and their families. For this reason, the Society has long fostered a welcoming culture at its Institutes through targeted measures. One key example is the support provided to dual-career couples in finding suitable professional opportunities at their new location.
To this end, the Max Planck Society collaborates within regional networks alongside other scientific organizations, as well as with local universities and companies. These partnerships offer a range of dual-career services, particularly for the partners of directors. In doing so, the Society enhances its attractiveness in the global competition for top talent while promoting equal opportunities and a healthy work–life balance.
Family-friendly working hours
Made-to-measure work
The Max Planck Institutes offer employees with family responsiblities opportunities to work part-time or to telecommute, also when they have to look after relatives in need of care.
Family allowances
Scholarship holders can obtain family allowances; female scientists with fixed-term employment contracts in accordance with the Academic Fixed-Term Contract Act can take advantage of a contract extension if they become pregnant and give birth.
Guide to maternity protection in the laboratory
Under certain conditions, pregnant or breastfeeding scientists may be provided with a replacement. This allows another person to carry out specific tasks on their behalf that they are legally prohibited from performing during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Contract extensions for fixed-term employees
Female scientists with fixed-term contracts, in accordance with the German Academic Fixed-Term Contract Act (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz, WissZeitVG), are entitled to contract extensions in cases of pregnancy and parental leave.