Mentoring Program for Female Early-Career Researchers
Table of contents
The mentoring program is offered by the Graduate Academy to support the personal development and professional careers of female early-career researchers from DFG-funded projects at TUD. Funding is provided from the equal opportunities funds of these projects.
News
How can women successfully build careers in academia—and what unique challenges do they face along the way? These and other questions were at the heart of this year’s Mentoring Program for female early-career researchers at Graduate Academy.
The program is specifically designed for women and provides targeted support for participants in their personal development, academic career planning, and professional networking. The program is funded through gender equality funds from the DFG-funded projects CRC/TRR 408 - AgiMo, CPEC und CRC 1415 at TUD.
The kickoff event focused on networking, mentoring, and visibility and their importance for women’s career development in academia. Katrin Saure, Deputy Head of the Diversity Management and coordinator of women’s advancement programs at TUD, shared valuable insights, practical advice, and important perspectives on these topics.
Sarah Fritzsch, the program coordinator, then introduced the goals, activities, and next steps of the Mentoring Program. Jenny Neukirch also provided an overview of the services and support available through Graduate Academy.
A particularly valuable part of the event was the opportunity for personal exchange. The participants shared their experiences and challenges along their academic career paths, exchanged advice, and discussed strategies and available support. The kickoff event therefore provided not only valuable information and inspiration, but also an important opportunity for networking and connecting with other participants.
Throughout the program, the participants will have additional opportunities to connect, exchange ideas, and learn from one another. We look forward to supporting the women in this program cohort as they continue to develop and shape their academic careers.
Program goals
The aim of the program is to improve the career opportunities of female early-career researchers by expanding personal networks and providing suggestions for conscious career planning.
Female researchers...
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- reflect on and train their skills and competencies with a focus on an academic career.
- receive support in establishing and expanding their own academic network.
- gain insights into scientific structures, processes and specialist cultures.
- are supported in their career through the personal exchange of experience and knowledge with a female scientist (mentor).
Program contents
The program launch in September 2026 marks the beginning of an intensive initial phase, which will run until the end of the year and will essentially include the following:
Accompanied by the program coordinator, the program starts with contacting a potential mentor. The female scientist (mentee) suggests potential mentors. These can be employed at TUD or another university or non-university research institution. The mentor must be at least a post-doctoral student or professor. If the desired mentor agrees, the mentee and mentor form what is known as a tandem. The program coordinator is available to answer questions throughout the entire period. However, the mentee and mentor are responsible for jointly defining the number, form, location and content of the regular meetings to ensure that the relationship is tailored to the individual needs and goals of the female scientist.
Active networking among the female scientists and beyond is another important part of the program. In addition to an official kick-off and closing event, additional network meetings and lunch talks are planned, which offer the opportunity to exchange experiences and make new contacts. Through the tandem relationship with a mentor, the mentoring program enables integration into the science community as well as stronger networking both within and outside of one's own university. In addition, further training courses organized by the GA or ZfW offer the opportunity to exchange experiences with scientists from other departments at TUD.
The female scientists can take advantage of coaching for their personal career and career development. One coaching session per female scientist is planned with approx. 2-3 sessions of 90 minutes each.
Possible topics:
- Self-marketing
- Decision-making
- Developing your own leadership skills
- Time management
Information for mentors
The program supports so-called one-to-one mentoring, i.e. the collaboration of one mentee with one mentor. Such a mentoring relationship not only offers benefits to the mentees, but also gives the mentors a unique opportunity to strengthen and further develop their leadership skills. Through their involvement, mentors also expand their expertise in consulting and take on additional responsibility. In addition, they gain an even deeper insight into the living and working environments of early-career researchers and into specific fields of research. They are also actively involved in the promotion of early-career researchers.
Contact
Do you have questions about the mentoring program? I look forward to hearing from you.
© Crispin-Iven Mokry
Mentoring Program for Female Early-Career Researchers
NameSarah Fritzsch
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Supporting research areas
