The annual "Girls' & Boys' Day" (former "Girl's day") sets out to introduce children and young addults to careers their respective gender is still underrepresented in. To celebrate this special day and offer insights into the work of a biomedical researcher, we welcomed students from all over Germany to our laboratories. Besides hands-on science, career options and perspectives in research were discussed.
With a share of about 30%, woman are still underrepresented in science and research in Germany, especially in advanced career stages. At ImmunoSensation3, a share of about 50% female researchers was achieved by now. Among the scientists who finished their PhD in a group within the Cluster of Excellence in between 2023 and 2026, 60% were female. On professoral level on the other hand, the share is only at 30%, though constantly increasing due to structured programs supporting women in science at ImmunpSensation3.
The Girls' and Boys' Day event is a great opportunity to introduce children and young adults to science and research as a great career option. As the day has been renamed to "Girls' and Boys' Day" in recent years and biomedical research is no longer a field strictly dominated by men, we decided to open up our event to all genders. Doing so, we aim to foster a gender-independent awareness for the imbalance between genders still evident across the career levels in science.
In the lab, the students learned about the most important biologocial molecule: DNA. Guided by scientists, the girls isolated DNA from bacteria and from their own oral mucosa. The day in the lab was rounded off by an introduction into light-microscopy and the visualization of different fat tissues.
The event was organized by ImmunoSensation3 in cooperation with IRENE (Inclusive REsearcher Network for Equality) and TRR 333 - BATenergy (Brown and Beige Fat - Organ Crosstalk, Signaling and Energetics), with support form the the teams of Prof. Alexander Pfeifer and Prof. Katrin Paeschke.
Contact
Dr. Alexandra Krämer
Cluster Coordination Office
ImmunoSensation3
mail: alexandra.kraemer@uni-bonn.de
phone: +49 228 287 51182
