Portraits
"Only when the university incorporates the tangible and intangible legacy of its female researchers into its institutional memory, continuously rewrites this legacy through the practice of remembrance and keeps it alive through critical discourse, can the young female academics who teach today be truly inspired by role models who are and will continue to be visible."
Anne G. Kosfeld, Central Equal Opportunities Officer
Portraits
Dr. Pauline Fleischmann
“For Women in Science" Prize
In the summer of 2022 Dr. Pauline Fleischmann took up a position as a Research Group Fellow in the Collaborative Research Centre “Magnetoreception and Navigation of Vertebrates”. She received the “For Women in Science" prize (German UNESCO Commission and L’Oréal Germany) for her doctoral thesis. The award is presented each year to three outstanding women scientists with children, to help them combine family and career. With the money she purchased four bicycle trailers. “Young parents who are students or doctoral candidates at the School of Mathematics and Science or the Collaborative Research Centre can borrow the trailers for free for a semester,” Fleischmann explains.
Adenike Adenaya
DAAD-Preis
The microbiologist not only focuses on an unusual research topic – the effects of antibiotics on marine bacteria in the tiny uppermost layer of the sea surface. She is also involved in various voluntary activities, such as the International Office’s Buddy Programme. “I benefitted from this programme myself when I came here, so I also want to help other international students settle in in Oldenburg,” she says.
Elke Hoxha
A "chief mate" with a lot of experience
Elke Hoxha is the longest-serving member of staff at the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM) and works at the Administration Office in Oldenburg. But despite all the years in her job, she never gets bored – because no two days are the same.
Prof. Dr. Ana Predojević
A Passion for quantum light
Experimental physicist Ana Predojević from Stockholm was 2023 a Helene Lange Visiting Professor at the University of Oldenburg. Since then she has done research in Spain, Austria, Germany and Sweden – and found that of all these countries Spain offers the best conditions for women. "There are many female physics students there, and also many female professors," she says. "It seems to be more taken for granted and socially accepted there that physics is a subject for women."
Dr. Hilkje Hänel
"A lack of role models"
„The fewer women there are in higher positions, the fewer will remain in the field – also because there is a lack of role models. In my view, there's some catching-up to do in this respect.”
Prof. Dr. Renate Scheidler
Women and the Leaky Pipeline
When she went to Canada for her doctorate, Germany was still divided. Since then, Renate Scheidler has come back only for short visits. The scientist is now staying for a whole year: as a Helene Lange Visiting Professor.
Prof. Dr. Kunz-Drolshagen
Theoretical Physics
“We must make a concerted effort to significantly improve the scientific prospects for young women in physics and to appoint more female physicists to professorships or to senior positions in industry.”
Prof. Dr. Barbara Moschner
Empirical teaching and learning research
“For me, challenging and supporting young female researchers means giving them the freedom to pursue their ideas and ask questions. And giving them opportunities ...”
Prof. Dr. Dagmar Freist
Early Modern History
“As a historian, part of my job is to recognise contemporary needs for orientation, to place them in broader historical contexts and to encourage people to develop alternative perspectives. I find that fascinating.”