Scientific exchange and highly personal insights into career paths

10 April 2019

Photo: UHH, RRZ/MCC, Mentz

Seven out of ten prize recipients participated in the conference. From left: Prof. Roseanne Sension, Prof. Elspeth Garman, Dr. Liesbeth Janssen, Prof. Cristiane Morais Smith und Prof. Rosario González-Férez. Prof. Anna Krylov und Dr. Anouk Rijs are missing in the picture

Being fascinated by science – that’s what the participants of the Mildred Dresselhaus Guest Professorship Conference 2019 on Campus Bahrenfeld have in common – men just like women. For three days they discussed their research and the diverse paths towards a successful career. At this point, however, men’s and women’s experiences very often drift apart.

The Mildred Dresselhaus Program was installed in 2013 within the former cluster of excellence “The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging” to honor outstanding scientists (women) and create role models for the science community in Hamburg. Due to these goals, the organizing team of the program was awarded Universität Hamburg’s Equal Opportunity Prize in 2018. The prize money of € 10,000 was spent to organize the Mildred Dresselhaus Conference and – as an agenda highlight - unite the prize recipients of the last five years. They shared their expertise in a number of scientific courses, combined research topics and on top gave deep insights into their career paths – by which male and female young scientists profited on equal parts.

“I am a scientist, not a woman scientist”

“I am a scientist, not a woman scientist,” keynote speaker Prof. Elspeth Garman from the University of Oxford, who was the senior awardee 2015, stressed in the opening ceremony. Accordingly, her advice is universal: not all experiments have a positive outcome - unless you try it, you won’t know the answer; believe in your evidence; never verbally do yourself down in front of others or to yourself; never give up.

“Your team is the universe”

Keynote speaker Kerstin Plehwe also delivered a “message of diversity”. Plehwe is an entrepreneur, advisor for leaders, and author, who calls herself a “change lover” and “change maker”. She adjured the audience to challenge one’s own perspective and – addressing women in particular – think beyond the glass ceiling, think big. While doing research for one of her books, she interviewed successful women in politics, economy, science, society, sports and culture and identified seven key criteria for success: confidence, vision, courage, integrity, perseverance, the power of communication and taking action. Women tended to view their immediate colleagues as the team, Plehwe said, but “Your team is the universe!”

Empowerment as a central aspect

Sabine Fernau, managing director of the Nat Initiative, calls empowerment a central aspect of her work. The initiative wants to stimulate young people’s interest in STEM and supports girls in particular. Fernau related how she as a high school girl was discouraged by her physics teacher and how her team today tries everything to point out career options in natural sciences to girls. She had invited 40 girls to a special speed dating within the conference; experiments and lectures for girls completed the school program within the conference program.

“Scientific storytelling” showed how much a career path is also formed by cultural differences. The speakers took the audience into freezing Siberia, on an excursion to the Indonesian jungle, and into deep sea. And again the participants profited by highly personal insights - just like during the whole conference. Text: CUI, Adler