Gender and diversity
The SFB/Transregio 237 with its members and representatives support gender equality and diversity within the research center. The importance to actively support gender equality in science is highlighted by the discrepancy between female representation among students and professors in academic fields related to biomedicine. While more than 60% of students studying biology and medicine related disciplines are female, women are still under-represented in leadership positions.
With a majority of female scientists on the operational level, the discrepancy to the leadership level is not due to a lack of talented women in biomedical sciences. The measures applied by the SFB/Transregio 237 for gender equality are therefore primarily aimed to support our female scientist before and during the transition from postdoc to professorship. We support the funding of additional personnel that helps female scientists during their maternity protection to proceed with their project. Our female scientists and scientists with children have the opportunity to attend seminars and coaching that improve their career prospects while upholding a healthy work-life balance. As another prominent measure to support our scientists with children, we provide emergency and back-up childcare via PME Familienservice. Due to this flexible childcare that is also available on short notice, our scientists are covered in case the regular day-care center is closed or the childminder is ill.
With these and more measures promoting our female scientists and scientists with family, and together with our lived culture of fair and equally respectful interaction, we are right on track towards gender equality.
The SFB/Transregio 237 embraces diversity. For example, with a total of 21 countries, the origins of our researchers investigating the mechanisms and functional consequences of nucleic acid immunity are diverse. These 21 origins stimulate the exchange of cultures and perspectives and inspire creativity and innovation in our laboratories.
