About the Podium Discussion

A highlight of our symposium will be a Podium Discussion on the topic “Women in academia: stay or leave?”.

Four speakers of different professional and personal background will discuss the working conditions and possibilities for women in and outside of academia. To offer participants of the symposium the opportunity to actively take part in the discussion, we will provide a “hot seat” next to the invited podium discussion members, which will be open for everyone.

Due to a range of difficulties, including the issue of combining career and family, there are still only few women holding top positions. We will discuss the current situation, the problems that female scientists may encounter and prepare ourselves for further career steps. In addition, we would like to debate on how we can improve conditions for young female scientists. We further want to follow up on what women can do to succeed in their specific, chosen career paths.

The Podium Discussion shall inform participants about the current situation of women in science and motivate the participants to implement new initiatives which can improve their own future conditions.

The discussion will be moderated by Barbara Streidl, a journalist working for the "Bayrischer Rundfunk". Her focus of work is mainly connected to the topic of reconciliation between career and family. More about Barbara Streidl here and on her official homepage (german only).

The results of a recent survey on experience in academic research and future plans, among PhD students, Postdocs and members of Göttingen University, will be presented as basis of discussion.


The following speakers will be part of the Podium Discussion:


  • Dr. Ira Milosevic, Junior Group Leader, European Neuroscience Institute, Göttingen

  • Dr. Emily Monosson, Book Author and Environmental Toxicologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Prof. Mary Osborn, Professor of Cell Biology, MPI for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen
  • Dr. Sandra Wechsler, Regulatory Affairs Expert at DSM Nutritional Products, Basel



  • The Symposium Schedule, including the Podium Discussion, can be downloaded here.

    The results of the PhD survey "experiences in academic research and future plans", which has been presented during the Podium Discussion, can be downloaded here.



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