Gender Equality

1A successful and sustainable increase in gender equality needs to simultaneously focus on providing support for female researchers at all levels of education and on the creation of a sustainable environment that inherently support gender equality. We believe that the aim of gender equality must be approached from both sides, by combining support measures for female researchers with gender sensibilisation of all involved persons. The following measures are implemented in the CRC structure to promote equal opportunities.

  • Early start: Attracting girls to technical disciplines by targeted information measures.
  • Progressive recruitment policy: We will use proactive schemes and personal head hunting to attract a high number of competitive applicants, from which we will select excellent candidates in a transparent and fair hiring process. We especially encourage female students and researchers to apply for positions at the CRC.
  • Comprehensive mentoring programmes: All female researchers will have access to personalized mentoring of the ARIADNE programme established at FAU. We will also enable specialised coaching for female researchers at more advanced career stages to promote leadership and competitiveness skills.
  • Professional networks: Internal and external social networks, which are still found to be gender biased, are of key importance for scientific careers, as they provide access to a broader pool of external reviewers and better internal support. In this CRC, a dual supervision and regular meeting structure with both supervisors will make sure that all relevant means (g. conferences, discussion sessions, visits to collaborative labs) are appropriately explored.
  • Female role models: Integration and invitation of highly visible female researchers via the Mercator program and invited presentations will provide role models for researchers and students of the CRC and beyond.
  • Dedicated Symposia: We will establish the symposium “Women in Particle Technology” as a way to introduce high-level role models and to strengthen the female presence in science and engineering in the Erlangen academic environment.
  • Raising awareness: We will organise mandatory soft skill lectures and workshops on gender-related topics for all involved researchers of the CRC.
Strategy and interconnected measures of the CRC to increase gender equality. Blue: Aimed at attracting interest in technical disciplines. Red: Aimed at supporting female researchers. Yellow: Aimed at raising awareness and sensibilise to gender-related challenges.