The teaching statement

Recently, I have talked to a friend about the application process for faculty positions in the United States and Germany. While in the US it is very important to write substantial and convincing statements on teaching as well as on diversity, equity and inclusion, it is not that common in Germany and other European countries. From my experience, even if it is required, both the applicants and the search committee do not seem to take such statements very seriously. Of course, in the US it also depends on the specific university, but in general I would contend that the aforementioned documents play a much bigger role in the States. As I argue quite often on this blog, I think that the importance of teaching skills of future faculty is highly undervalued and should be at least as important as the research profile of an applicant. Obviously, it is hard to quantify a person's teaching skills, but I think that a teaching statement and a teaching demonstration are appropriate ways to better assess an applicant.

Declining student enrollment numbers in physics

Today, I had a look into the most recent statistics about physics undergraduate and graduate student enrollment numbers at German universities. Typically, these statistics are published each year in the "Physik Journal", which is a monthly magazine published by the German Physical Society (DPG, Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft). You can find the current statistics here.