Statement “By working together, we can further shift the dial for women in science”
Prof. Eleftheria Zeggini about equity, diversity and inclusion in science
Prof. Eleftheria Zeggini about equity, diversity and inclusion in science
Helmholtz Munich I Luisa Hoffmann
The inaugural ‘Munich for Women in Science’ event was held in December 2023. The event was hosted by Helmholtz Munich and was organized in collaboration with the Technical University Munich (TUM), the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München (LMU), the Max Planck Society, and the Fraunhofer Society.
Here, we speak to Prof. Eleftheria Zeggini, one of the driving forces behind the event, about the motivation for this seminal event and future ambitions:
"Women are under-represented in research and development in Germany. Data show that, in 2021, the percentage of women researchers was 29.4%. The gender distribution across career stages along the academic pipeline in the Biological Sciences reflects this trend, with fewer than 15% of women in senior professorial roles. Women scientists are also much less likely than men to receive academic awards. The barriers to progression at each stage of the pipeline are complex and underpinned by societal, cultural and systemic biases.
Energised and galvanised by conversations with colleagues across Munich, I was inspired to start building a mechanism to harness this enthusiasm to help drive meaningful change to advance equity and inclusion across our research environment. The first step towards this was holding our inaugural "Munich for Women in Science" event. This successful event brought people together to share good practice, foster connections and provide a platform to start constructing our plans and community. Our stimulating and motivating speakers shared refreshing ideas and outlined practical steps on how to catalyse change.
We are excited to see what comes next and utilise the power of our collective - by working together, we can further shift the dial for women in science."
Prof. Eleftheria Zeggini, Director of the Institute of Translational Genomics and Program Spokesperson for the Helmholtz Munich POF program ENABLE
Latest update: February 2024.
About Eleftheria Zeggini
Eleftheria works in the field of Translational Genomics. Her team develops and applies robust statistical and computational tools to integrate information gleaned from deep molecular, genomics and epidemiological approaches to address important biomedical research challenges.