Female researchers are still under-represented in (leading) research positions and in non-university institutions and companies. This is by no means due to a lack of professional qualification or personal aptitude, but mostly to structural obstacles, which are also partly reinforced by informal practices. Mentoring for female researchers is therefore primarily aimed at preparing them for dealing with these structural obstacles and enabling them to exchange information with peers and more experienced people. The mentoring programmes are intended to help strategically plan the achievement of individual career goals and overcome possible obstacles.

The University of Oldenburg conducts mentoring programmes for female researchers* in different career phases:

Line A:  Progressio. Successful development in academic leadership

              for experienced postdoctoral researchers (preferably at least three years after a doctorate)
              junior research group leaders, junior professors and tenure track professors

Line B: Potentials. Career orientation and planning for female researchers* 

              for doctoral candidates in the qualifying phase and early postdoctoral candidates (up to a maximum
              of 3 years after a doctorate).

The mentoring programmes for female researchers* are an expression of the responsibility for equal opportunities to which the university expressly commits itself and which it has documented in detail in the current equal opportunities plan, in addition to numerous other measures in all fields of action equal opportunities work.

*This refers to all persons who identify as female researchers. This explicitly includes trans*, inter* and non-binary people who identify as female. Female researchers with a disability will be given priority in the application procedures. The term ‘mentor’ also refers to all people who want to take on this task, regardless of their gender identity.