Covid-19 has forced researchers to massively halt or limit their studies. Closed laboratories, canceled research partnerships and organizing a completely different family everyday with homeschooling and childcare at home: for many of them, after several years of research, the pandemic could have meant the end of their projects.
Scientific Senator Katharina Fegebank: “The pandemic presented great challenges to science and research, and many women have had to completely reorganize their family life. By updating the Pro Exzellenzia Scholarships, we take these difficult circumstances into account and are creating an important foundation for women receiving funding to continue their research projects and advance their scientific careers. “
The social senator Dr. Melania Leonard: “In current conditions it is difficult to reconcile professional advancement and family life – it is often not easy to reconcile everything. Parents in Hamburg are supported in this challenge with various facilities and offers. Especially for single parents, this support can now be a small part of many who help “.
“Doc and Post-Doc fellows examine socially relevant topics such as therapies for heart disease, sustainable construction measures or multimedia work,” he explains Doris Cornils, project managerfunded by the ESF and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg since 2010. Normally the funding for fellows through the project would end at the end of the year.
Competent support in a large network: this is Pro Exzellenzia
Pro Exzellenzia’s goal is to encourage highly qualified women in the fields of MINT (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology), art, music, architecture and humanities to strategically plan career paths in management positions and develop strategies for a successful work-life balance develops the family.
The professional competence center offers numerous measures to qualify women for management positions. These include graduate and postdoctoral scholarships, coaching, career and management skills workshops, as well as conference and advice events for women with a migrant background. In addition, Pro Excellence is involved in (social) networks and promotes cooperation measures, which benefit both scientists and universities.
Pro Excellence is funded by the City of Hamburg and the European Social Fund (ESF). As part of the current ESF funding round (Pro Exzellenzia 4.0), 33 new doctoral and postdoctoral scholarships for women have been acquired at Hamburg universities.