UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE

Jenny Gusyk Gender Equality Awards 2021

The Jenny Gusyk Gender Equality Awards 2021 were presented to the participants of the GenderForum in the form of video contributions:

The Jenny Gusyk "Innovation Prize" in the amount of 3,000 euros was awarded to the HYPATIA.SCIENCE project (Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Department of Mathematics/Computer Science). HYPATIA.SCIENCE has been awarding research positions for academic assistants since 2020, specifically targeting female students in the subjects of mathematics and computer science. The project is an initiative to promote young female scientists in the transition from studies to doctoral studies. The aim is to increase the proportion of women in doctoral studies in the long term. The female students are actively involved in scientific work through the auxiliary positions and gain knowledge about structures, processes and rules in everyday scientific work. Participants in the project are Prof. Dr. Dirk Horstmann, Prof. Dr. Gregor Gassner, Dr.' Anna Gundert, Dr.' Vera Weil and Dr. Michael Schlottke-Lakemper.

The Jenny Gusyk "Young Researcher Award" for an outstanding academic thesis in the amount of 1,000 euros was awarded to Alexander Schmitz (Faculty of Human Sciences, M.A. Educational Science). He was awarded for his Master's thesis on "Victim Role and Suicidal Rhetoric: Constructions of Masculinity in the Incel Community". The thesis deals with a very current and pressing topic and makes an important contribution to current debates. It deals with questions of self-presentations and attributions to others, privileges and marginalisations, affiliations and exclusions. "Superbly written, impressively multi-layered and pointing across disciplinary and academic boundaries, the work should reach a large audience," the selection committee concluded.

The Jenny Gusyk Award in the category "Family Conscious Leadership" in the amount of 1,000 euros was awarded to Dr Matthias Röder (Department 74, International Advancement). He was honoured as a manager for actively working for improvements in the compatibility of family or care work and career for his staff. Dr. Röder also acts as a role model for his team with his own care tasks and encourages them to perceive stress limits and to protect their own health - and thus also their ability to work. Dr. Röder also understands family awareness not only as a duty of care towards the existing team, but also specifically conveys this in application procedures in order to recruit qualified employees for the University of Cologne.