Academic unions are demanding more and fairer research funding, a pay rise for academic staff and 56 days of annual leave. To support these demands, a campaign has been launched to draw the attention of the public and decision-makers to the problems in science.

As part of the campaign, participants will post group or individual selfies on social media with a poster supporting the demands, organise a picnic in front of the Stenbock House during the Estonian Research and Development Council meeting on 13 February at 14:00, and explain the background of the demands through the media.

More money - at least 1% of GDP for science!
Current research funding is neither sustainable nor fair. In the Ministry of Education and Research's development plan "Knowledge-based Estonia" (2014), there is an explicit promise to increase public research funding to 11T3T of GDP. At present, however, research funding is almost half of what was promised, at 0.531TTP3T. Inadequate public funding for research puts researchers in a difficult position, forcing researchers to rely on short-term and competitive project funding. This situation prevents researchers from setting longer-term research goals and from concentrating sufficiently on the most personally relevant research topics. Existing research funding jeopardises the continuity of many disciplines and research groups.

A fairer system for distributing research funding!
The allocation of research funding must take equal account of the different fields: social sciences, humanities, and engineering. The effect of increased research funding is fairest and greatest overall, taking into account the needs of all sectors. The humanities and social sciences need an increase in investment equivalent to that of the exact sciences, especially given the current predominance of the exact sciences in research policy and funding.

A salary worthy of an academic staff member!
Academic staff salaries have long been stagnant and in the background of higher education policy. A situation has emerged where academic staff salaries are falling below the average. This situation is particularly unacceptable in view of the very high demands placed on academic staff (doctorates, research publications) and the heavy workload. At present, there is a major mismatch between requirements and pay.

Academic staff on annual leave 56 days!
There are no good arguments for shortening an academic employee's annual leave. Academic staff carry out a lot of voluntary and unpaid work (participation in committees and editorial boards, outreach activities, etc.) and a long period of leave is necessary to maintain the autonomy of the academic staff member and to balance a heavy workload. Making the length of leave negotiable individualises employment relations and introduces injustice. Academic staff are calling for the retention of the previous basic leave of 56 days for all academic staff, thereby also ensuring equal treatment for educational staff.

Tallinn University Trade Union, University of Tartu Trade Union, Estonian University of Life Sciences Trade Union and Tallinn University of Technology Trade Union are participating in the campaign. The academic trade unions also invite other research workers and their representative organisations to join the campaign.