Diversity, equity and inclusion

Diversity, equity and inclusion

The members of the Cluster of Excellence and the board are strongly committed to ensure equal career opportunities irrespective of gender, age, origin, personal background and religion. To achieve best scientific results, it is important that diverse groups with different cultural backgrounds and experiences work together. Cluster-specific measures have been implemented and established structures and instruments of our partner institutions Ulm University, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Justus Liebig University Giessen are made use of. These structures include personnel development and diversity management units, monitoring of hiring procedures, initiatives for reconciliation of work and family life, various mentoring and coaching programs and more.

Our aims are:

• Creating an accepting, inclusive and diverse culture, which fosters inclusion and interculturality within the Cluster
• Raising awareness of equality and diversity and the impact of unconscious bias through various programs and workshops
• Achieving equal opportunities for women and men at all levels of the Cluster
• Raising the number of women at all qualification levels and especially in leadership positions
• Compatibility of family and career

Equity and diversity measures within the Cluster are organized by the Equal Opportunity Officer Christine Kranz, who is also member of the Executive Board and is first contact person regarding equity, diversity and inclusion related questions. The Equal Opportunity Committee, consisting of 17 members at different career levels, including representatives of the diversity and equal opportunity offices at Ulm University and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, supports the Equal Opportunity Officer. In a common effort, we successfully increased the overall proportion of women in POLiS.

The Clusters’ equal opportunity activities include special funding opportunities for female researchers, the organization of trainings and workshops on gender and diversity competence with a focus on unconscious biases, and networking opportunities.

Additionally, the Cluster supported and will continue to support female researchers by funding additional personnel during maternity leave and nursing periods, e.g., lab support or child care during conferences.

Important Links

• Equal Opprtunities @ KIT
• Equal Opportunities @ Ulm University
• Equal Opportunities @ JLU

Unconscious Bias? Test yourself!

To test if you are biased and what you can do to reduce these unconscious biases, there is a free online text that can be accessed here.

The POLiS Award of Excellence for Female Researchers is given annually to an outstanding female early and mid-career researcher working in one of the scientific topics of the POLiS Cluster. It entails up to 70,000 € for one or several research stays at one of POLiS participating institutions (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Ulm University, the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) and University of Giessen) to establish and strengthen international collaborations.

Further information on the application and selection process as well as previous awardees can be found here.