Promoting equal opportunities
Work and family life balance
The PMI Cluster of Excellence supports the balance of work and family life with a comprehensive initiatives package:
- Childcare at events: We provide reliable childcare at all cluster events and cover the costs of childcare at external conferences.
- Flexible childcare solutions: Covering the costs of additional childcare during off-peak hours enables our employees to work flexibly.
- PMI Research Assistent System: Support during pregnancy or parental leave. Dissertation candidates, postdocs or junior research group leaders can apply for funding, e.g., to employ a substitute to head the group on an interim basis or to finance a technical assistant for necessary laboratory work.
- Start-up fund: Financial support for families in special situations to facilitate the return to an academic career.
- Dual-career advancement: We support couples in pursuing their careers at the location of the cluster.
- Support with double workload: Funding of support services to help balance work and family life, and providing nursing care for family members.
Our aim is to create a working environment that fosters professional success while also enabling a fulfilling family life.
Career advancement of female scientists
The PMI Cluster of Excellence is actively committed to promoting the careers of female scientists and researchers and offers an excellent comprehensive range of career support measures. Those outstanding sponsorhips include:
- Dorothea Erxleben Female Researcher Awards: These awards honour outstanding female researchers with up to 100,000 euros to provide them with the opportunity to devote themselves intensively to their research work.
- Coaching and Mentoring Programs: These programs are specifically tailored to the needs of female scientists and researchers and offer individualized support.
- Role-Model Talks: As part of the Cluster Lectures, this special lecture series gives outstanding international female scientists and researchers insights about their careers.
- Early recruitment of women: The cluster actively promotes the early recruitment of women to academic positions.
- Specialized workshops: Targeted professional development and support for female scientists and researchers on various topics, such as negotiating or financial self-determination.
These offers are also complemented by the advancement programs of the supporting institutions, guaranteeing further support.
Workshops and events
In addition to the targeted advancement of female scientists and researchers, the PMI cluster also takes other measures to promote equal opportunities in the the field of science by organizing public events and workshops on the topic. So far, these have included:
- Symposium "Sex and gender in precision medicine": One block at the academic event was specifically dedicated to the underrepresentation of women in science and research.
- Film event with panel discussion to raise awareness about harassment and discrimination against female scientists and researchers
- Workshops on finance, team diversity, or academic career structures
