Honoured - Fulda University of Applied Sciences celebrates the award of the "Equal Opportunities Strong University" title

Coveted award for Fulda University of Applied Sciences: The "Equal Opportunities University" plaque is awarded to selected universities throughout Germany as part of the "Female Professors Programme 2030" - the central instrument of the federal and state governments to support equal opportunities for women and men at universities.

In order to honour the outstanding and convincing gender equality work of Fulda University of Applied Sciences and to make it visible as an important quality criterion, representatives of the federal government and the state of Hesse met today, Thursday, for a joint award ceremony with distinction "University of Applied Sciences with Strong Gender Equality" on the campus of Fulda University of Applied Sciences. This is the second time that Fulda University of Applied Sciences has been honoured as part of the female professors programme. Back in 2018, it was the only university of applied research to receive the "Equal Opportunities: Excellent!" award for the concept it submitted in the first call for applications, thus securing additional funding for another first-time appointment of a woman to a professorship.

Fulda University of Applied Sciences was presented with the "Equal Opportunities Strong University" plaque by the State Secretary of the Hessian Ministry of Research, Art and Culture, Christoph Degen, and Carolin Schumacher from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in a festive ceremony. Together with the management of Fulda University of Applied Sciences, committee members, instructors, active participation employees and students celebrated the special recognition in the area of gender equality. The invited guests also included the employees of Fulda University of Applied Sciences who actively participated in the creation and implementation of the equal opportunities concept for parity and the female professors and academics whose positions were funded from past funding phases of the Women Professors Programme.

"Receiving this plaque today is a very special honour. This plaque recognises the outstanding work of many players at Fulda University of Applied Sciences - over many years. It is a strong sign of the active gender equality work at our university, which has been exemplary in the German academic system for years and regularly performs excellently in calls for proposals and rankings," emphasised University President Prof. Dr Karim Khakzar.

The programme for female professors, which is funded by the federal and state governments, has been running since 2008 and is currently in its fourth funding phase. Fulda University of Applied Sciences has been involved from the very beginning and has received three start-up grants for the initial appointment of women to professorships in each funding phase. In the current fourth funding phase (Women Professors Programme 2030), Fulda University of Applied Sciences once again impressed the panel of experts with its equal opportunities concept for parity. The maximum funding amount for Fulda University of Applied Sciences totals almost three million euros for the funding period up to 2030.

Prof. Dr Martina Ritter, Vice President for Research and Transfer, confirmed the positive impact of the Women Professors Programme: "Since our first attendance in 2008, we have been able to increase the proportion of female professors from 34% to an outstanding 49%. A total of ten first-time appointments of women for five years each have been funded since then." The Presidential Board realised early on that the university wanted and needed to actively support the career development of young female academics. According to Prof Ritter, the additional funds to promote gender equality were therefore channelled into around 15 doctoral positions for women. The Vice President added: "Most of them now hold top positions in research or business. This is a very pleasing result that we will gladly continue to work on."

With the award of the coveted distinction, Fulda University of Applied Sciences has received additional funding on top of the three start-up funds for professorships: a further position for a young female researcher on her way to a tenured professorship. "We took this opportunity and called for proposals for a tandem professorship in the field of applied computer science, ideally to encourage women to apply for this interesting position. A tandem professorship involves gaining the required three years of professional experience outside the university. It is a unique opportunity to start the targeted recruitment of outstanding women in the field of science at an early stage," said Birgit Hohmann, Head of the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Division and Representative for Women's Affairs and Gender Equality at Fulda University of Applied Sciences.

Background information on the Women Professors Programme
The Women Professors Programme is the central instrument of the federal and state governments for funding equal opportunities for women and men at universities. This program was jointly launched to significantly increase the proportion of women in leading academic positions. It supports female academics on their path to tenured professorships and ensures that they remain integrated in the academic system. Since its introduction in 2008, the program has supported more than 850 professorships.

The programme has an impact on two levels:
- The number of female professors in Germany is increased.
- The gender equality structures at universities are strengthened through targeted measures.

Further information on the Women Professors Programme