NAWI Graz Gender Projects 2010-2015

Between the years 2010 and 2015, a considerable share of the NAWI Graz funding provided by the federal ministry was reserved for the realisation of NAWI Graz gender projects. By providing support for female staff researchers, especially during their habilitation phase, the NAWI Graz gender projects provided a substantial and sustainable boost for a number of scientific careers.

The NAWI Graz gender projects comprised of:
NAWI Graz support for young female scientists

Experience shows that it is much harder for female scientists to receive project funding from industrial enterprises. In order to provide better conditions for future research projects, all female staff scientists (with qualification agreements/career positions) received a research grant and were allowed to submit one application for infrastructure funding at a reduced own-contribution rate.
The University of Graz also established a young female researcher’s group grant. Female researchers who fulfilled all application criteria were invited to submit a project proposal; a total of five highly ambitious projects were submitted. From these proposals, the projects of Dr. Monika Oberer (Unravelling the secrets of the  lipolysome) and Dr. Manuela Temmer (Quiet solar wind flow and interacting disturbances) were chosen. At Graz University of Technology, two female staff positions have been created.

NAWI Graz master’s theses grant

In 2010, NAWI Graz initiated a master’s theses grant (comparable to the Austrian Science Fund’s “Forschungsbeihilfe”) for female scientific staff members in order to provide direct support for master’s theses they supervise. This was primarily intended to promote the colleagues’ research and also to lead to a higher rate of approved third-party project proposals. From 2010 to 2015, a total of 29 master’s theses grants for female staff members were awarded.

NAWI Graz gender professorship 2015/16

The NAWI Graz gender professorship 2015/16 was funded for the purpose of integrateing gender relevant topics into NAWI Graz study programmes. Prof. Sigrid Schmitz, an international expert in the area of gender and natural sciences, gave two gender lectures as well as designed several tailor-made gender related modules, to be integrated in compulsory lectures of various NAWI Graz study programmes. The modules are to be used also in future lectures.