From November 26th to 27th, 2018, the international conference "Women in Science" took place in Münster on the premises of the Max Planck Institute. The scientists met to discuss career pathways within and outside acadmia and to exchange ideas about their current research. The conference was held in this form for the first time.

More than 100 participants obtained information at the conference organized and supported by the Medical Faculty and several Collaborative Research Centers on the topics of career planning, career options and interdisciplinary networking. High-class specialist lectures and poster presentations from the fields of medicine and life sciences were part of the schedule as well. The participants were welcomed at the WWU and in the city of Münster by the Rector for Research Prof. Dr. Monika Stoll and Mayor Wendela-Beate Vilhjalmsson.

"As established scientists, we would like to offer the talented young female junior scientists above all a special platform for networking and exchanging ideas," explains Prof. Dr. Karin Loser and Prof. Dr. Ursula Rescher from the organizing team. “In order to be able to invite top-class international speakers, we asked for support from several special research areas and research associations in Germany. Now the conference is fully booked and thanks to our network we were able to realize this conference by means of so-called gender pooling, ”both emphasized at the beginning of the congress.

The so-called gender fund pooling is a way of pooling available finances within the framework of DFG-funded projects for the purpose of implementing larger measures.

“The conference is very important for the Münster location and the closely interlinked areas of medicine and life sciences. We are proud that our colleagues have implemented this cross-location initiative and have proven that we are devoting ourselves to this current topic not only with words, but also with deeds, ”emphasize the Dean of Research of the Medical Faculty Prof. Sven Meuth and his colleagues from two of the collaborative research centers involved , Prof. Dr. Christian Klämbt and Prof. Dr. Johannes Roth, together with the coordinator of the Cluster of Excellence "Cells in Motion", Prof. Dr. Volker Gerke, and the IZKF chairman Prof. Dr. Stephan Ludwig.