Mentoring program dynaMENT enters fourth round and will be expanded

19 September 2019, by MIN-Dekanat

Photo: UHH/MIN/Fuchs

The patrons Meike Johannsen (l) and Dr. Angelika Paschke-Kratzin (r).

Photo: UHH/MIN/Fuchs

Dr. Umilaela Arifin was a mentee last year and gave an emotional talk.

Photo: UHH/MIN/Fuchs

The mentees and some mentors of the past year.

Photo: UHH/MIN/Fuchs

Stimulated exchange during the panel discussion.

Photo: UHH/MIN/Fuchs

Finally, the Second Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and Senator of the Ministry of Science, Research and Equality, Katharina Fegebank spoke...

Photo: UHH/MIN/Fuchs

...and highlighted the great importance of the mentoring program dynaMENT.

The fourth round of the program dynaMENT "Mentoring for Women in Natural Sciences" was kicked off with a festive event at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) on the Bahrenfeld campus. The Second Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and Senator of the Ministry of Science, Research and Equality, Katharina Fegebank, was also present and emphasized the necessity of the program in her talk.

The festive event was opened by Dr. Angelika Paschke-Kratzin, Equal Opportunities Commissioner of the Universität Hamburg, and Meike Johannsen, DESY Deputy Director at the Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, who jointly announced that the program would be further expanded: " In fact, we are not simply continuing dynaMENT, but have conceptually expanded the range of the program. This year dynaMENT offers for the first time two individual programs for different target groups: First, the one-year mentoring program: dynaMENT doctorate for doctoral candidates and second, A two-year mentoring program: dynaMENT advanced for postdocs, junior group leaders and junior professors.," explained dynaMENT patron Angelika Paschke-Kratzin. The cooperation between the University of Hamburg and DESY will also be strengthened within the framework of dynaMENT: Both institutions will in future finance and further expand the program as equal partners in the long term. "We are proud that we are taking on this task together, stretching out our joint umbrella for dynaMENT," adds dynaMENT patron Meike Johannsen.

In a festive ceremony, the both dynaMENT patrons presented the certificates to the participants of the past program year and thanked the mentors. At the same time, the new mentees and mentors were welcomed.  The event was rounded off by a discussion on the topic "Visibility of Women in Science" with Prof. Dr. Heinrich Graener, Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences at the Universität Hamburg, Prof. Dr. Elisabetta Gallo, Senior Scientist at DESY and Professor at the Universität Hamburg, Prof. Dr. Robin Santra, Head of the CFEL Theory Group and Professor at the Universität Hamburg, and Ayla Nawaz, dynaMENT participant at DESY. At the end Katharina Fegebank addressed some words to the participants: "I think it is very vital to have a programme like this, and I would like to thank the Universität Hamburg, the MIN faculty and, of course, DESY for manage this programme together."

The goal of dynaMENT is to increase the proportion of women at all career levels in the natural sciences. The English mentoring program is aimed at women in scientific research who are looking for a career in science. The program focuses on one-to-one counselling, i.e. intensive, personal discussions with an experienced executive selected in an individual matching process. In addition, regular networking events and workshops are held for the participants. dynaMENT also supports the scientists in the further planning and development of their careers through science-specific training and strategic networking events.

dynaMENT is a cooperation between the Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron (DESY) and the Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences of the Universität Hamburg with the participation of the excellence clusters "CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter" and "Quantum Universe". Scientists of the institutes XFEL, the Heinrich Pette Institute, the Max Planck Institute for Structure and Dynamics of Matter and the Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf UKE are also welcome to apply.