Empowering Mothers in Science

Women bring immense potential to science, yet they remain underrepresented in top academic and research roles. In 2022, over 52.3% of all students enrolled at German universities were women, and women earned more than 46% of doctorate degrees. But when it comes to university professors, this number drops dramatically to just 28% (Source: German Federal […]

How to grow in the shadows

I walk through the forest and see a few old and sturdy trees, that are dominating their surroundings. I look up and see how they sway in the wind, but they bend and hold and aren’t bothered in the slightest. Down here in their shadow, I am surrounded by an army of saplings. Most of […]

At the beginning there was bureaucracy

Last year in summer I finished my Master’s degree. I was, and still am, very much in love with science, and enjoyed my research-focussed program a lot. No surprise that I wanted to pursue a scientific career, and that I was very happy I had managed to secure a PhD position as the next step […]

Science – at the edge of knowledge

One of the biggest realizations during my PhD so far was that doing science means that literally nobody has ever done whatever you are doing. Duh! That’s kind of the point of science, isn’t it? Generating new knowledge? Yes, but I was somewhat unaware of the consequences for me as a scientist. In a nutshell: […]

Why a hackathon has nothing to do with coding!

If you  received  an invite to a “Hackathon” event – would you sign up for it? Chances are, if you’re not a programmer by training, studied IT or went far down the rabbit hole called modelling for your research, your answer will be thanks for the invitation, but no thanks. “No way!” was my first reaction […]