'As the end of the year approaches I want to give you a summary of what we (including Theresa Groß-Thebing) have reached in terms of gender equality measures since the start of the CRU:

We established a LabAid-system to support parents with young children in daily working practice during their time of pregnancy or childcare. This measure, as well as the financial support for babysitting costs, was very well accepted.

Overall 15 congress participations were funded for female scientists, who - for various reasons - had no abstract and were therefore not covered by the general travel budget. In addition, we funded four individual trainings of female scientists and offered five in-house workshops (e.g. rhetoric, leading in discussions).

Two XXtra Science network meetings were supported so far. A third meeting will be announced soon.

I especially want to draw your attention to the following two parameters that could have an additional benefit to your personal career paths:

Mentoring program: With the help of Prof. Dr. Sabine Kliesch we arranged mentor and mentee connections for women. By 'one-to-one' meetings you have the great opportunity to get in contact with an expert in your field and to create a trustful and reliable relation with her.

Bridging fund: This measure is thought to support young female scientists after their master/bachelor or doctoral thesis to be able to stay in their workgroup and continue with personal project ideas. Please find here further information. Deadline for submission: 31.12.2019.

As I am in maternity leave, Cristin Beumer will be the 'Provisional Head of the Gender Equality Office' as she was part of and was introduced to the respective measures and workflows from the beginning on. As a scientist, project manager and mother she ideally fits this position.

Please feel free to contact her via malegermcells@ukmuenster.de with your questions and ideas.

Best regards, Maria Schubert (Gender Equality Representative)'