Gender Equality Prize

The University of Münster distinguishes innovative projects and measures which serve to promote the advancement of women and equal opportunity for both women and men within the University. To this end, every two years it awards the Gender Equality Prize (until 2015: Women’s Advancement Prize), which is endowed with € 20,000. The award is intended to recognise and support projects and structural measures in all member groups represented at the University. It is awarded by the Rector to individual members, groups of members, working areas, facilities, departments or faculties of the University of Münster. It supports projects:

• which can only be realised with the help of the prize money;
• that have already been carried out or started and can be repeated or continued with the help of the prize money;
• that concluded no longer than two years prior on the condition that the prize money is used again for gender equality purposes.

The Gender Equality Prize can be awarded to distinguish:

• measures that promote women in order to reduce existing disadvantages;
• measures that improve the work-life balance for women and men (e.g. to increase the proportion of fathers on parental leave);
• measures that raise awareness of gender equality issues or increase the gender competence of employees and students;
• measures or projects designed to increase the number of women seeking qualification at levels where women are usually underrepresented;
• measures or projects designed to increase the number of female students in degree programmes with a low proportion of women;
• measures that improve the academic conditions of student parents;
• measures that improve working conditions and workplace organisation in workplaces predominantly occupied by women;
• networks which provide advice and information for women;
• measures that promote the safety of women.

The prize cannot be awarded for outstanding research achievements by female (or male) researchers.

All members and affiliates of the University are eligible to nominate others or apply for consideration for the award.

The call for applications for the Gender Equality Price 2023  can be found here.

Gender Equality Prize 2021

The Gender Equality Prize was awarded on 14 January 2022 to two projects which tied for the best gender-related initiative. The prize went to the "Position Paper on the Prevention of Sexualised Violence" by the working group on sexualised violence at the Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences, led by Axel Binnenbruck and Lena Henning, and to the Summer Academy on Feminist Law 2021, supported by the chair of Public International Law and International Human Rights Protection.

“With the position paper, the Institute has committed itself to promoting respectful coexistence, taking a clear stance against sexualised violence and, above all, not making the topic taboo.” (Lena Henning). Ms Henning also points out that it is immensely important to set boundaries and clarify what goes too far, especially in sports, which almost always involves physical contact, whether in the context of coaching or in direct contact during sports. Measures such as sensitisation or a risk analysis for each type of sport should help to prevent unpleasant or unwanted situations. Commitments to promoting continuing education and training are also included in the paper. A working group has already been formed at the Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences to address the topic of preventing sexualised violence on the basis of the position paper. An initial meeting to plan and prioritise the next steps will take place in February. The topic of preventing sexualised violence will also be discussed at the next closed meeting. The project participants will then consider how to get other institutes involved in the discussion.

The Summer Academy on Feminist Law is a joint project between students and academic staff from the University of Münster and the Universities of Bonn and Hamburg. “It was prompted by the experience that sexual discrimination repeatedly occurs in law studies” (Natalie Lorenzen, student member of the organisational team). The focus is clearly on encouraging dialogue among like-minded people, so that women students and legal practitioners realise that they are not alone and that they can work together to change the situation. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the workshops and lectures at the Summer Academy were held in digital form.

The award ceremony took place digitally due to the coronavirus pandemic, but no less solemnly than in person in previous years. Embedded in an accompanying programme, the winners and their projects were able to introduce themselves and their projects in the best possible way in a video.

Gender Equality Prize 2019

The Gender Equality Prize 2019 went to the Centre for Theological Gender Studies. The prize money is to be used to implement the Teach Tank “Lehrbausteine Gender in Theologie”, which collects tried-and-tested materials, methods, topic suggestions and session designs on theological gender research and prepares them in such a way that all lecturers in the faculty can use them easily in analogue and digital form. In the medium term, this project can serve as a model for other subjects and disciplines. The aims of the project are explained in a short film.

Learn more about the objectives and methods of the project in this short film.

Gender Equality Prize 2017

The Gender Equality Prize of 2017 totalling 20,000 euros went to “WiRe - Women in Research”, a project initiated by the International Office. “WiRe” is a target group-specific network with special funding and support, particularly for young women academics in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology (STEM). By providing targeted support for women in their postdoctoral phase, “WiRe” aims to finance, for example, a stay of up to six months with the recipient’s family or respective partner in Münster.

You can find more information about “WiRe” here.

The successful project was officially distinguished at the Rectorate's New Year's Reception in January 2018.

Women’s Advancement Prize 2015

In 2015, the jury selected two excellent projects, each of which received 10,000 euros in funding:

The “MitKind” project of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Münster has set itself the goal of improving the compatibility of medical studies at the University of Münster with one’s familial responsibilities. The aim is not only to support students and their families and put the University’s family-friendly mission statement into practice, but also to present a visible concept for achieving a work-life balance that could offer a career path tailored to medical students who wish to have children. The “MitKind” project was initiated in August 2013 by the Dean of Studies at the Faculty of Medicine and was thus recognised as an existing project.

Learn more about “MitKind”

The award also went to a project that aims to establish a women’s philosophy salon in Münster. Its purpose is to counteract the sharp decline in the proportion of women philosophers after graduation and to encourage more women to pursue an academic career in philosophy. The salon is aimed at women master’s students and young women academics in philosophy and serves as a forum for dialogue and networking with successful (external) women professors in this field.

Dates and information about the Philosophy Salon

The two successful projects were distinguished at the Rector’s New Year’s Reception in January 2016.

Women’s Advancement Prize 2013

In 2013, the jury selected two outstanding projects, each of which received 10,000 euros in funding.

The first winner was the project “Advancement skills for female lawyers/coaching programme for female doctoral and postdoctoral students at the Faculty of Law” by Prof. Dr Frauke Wedemann and Cornelia Jäger. The coaching programme, which has already been successfully launched, will be continued and expanded with the help of the Women’s Advancement Prize. The aim of the programme is, among other things, to successfully strengthen the participants’ self-marketing skills and professional networking activities. Strategies for successful career planning are also highlighted. The jury concluded that the project makes an important contribution to the career development of women lawyers.

The prize also went to the project “VUM - Von und Miteinander” by Dr Elisabeth Paus from the Centre for Teaching in Higher Education (ZHL), which includes peer-based (case) counselling to support women doctoral students at the University of Münster. The aim of the project is to support women doctoral candidates at the University of Münster in dealing with interdisciplinary issues - i.e. issues related to their personal professional situation during their doctorate. The jury found that the project makes an important contribution to the equality of women and men in the sensitive phase of the doctoral procedure at the University of Münster. Candidates can apply for doctoral enrolment via the Graduate Centre.

The two successful projects were distinguished at the Rector’s New Year’s Reception in January 2014.

Women’s Advancement Prize 2011

The prize awarded in 2011 supports the project "Gender-sensitive teaching modules in medicine” with 10,000 euros. The prize money will be used, among other things, to create a gender-specific curriculum at the Faculty of Medicine.

The second half of the Women’s Advancement Prize – 10,000 euros in prize money – will go to the Agenda Regional Group of the Faculty of Catholic Theology to support the project “Consolidation of the annual programme of the Agenda Regional Group of the University of Münster”. This project involves 15 volunteer members who aim to counteract the structural disadvantages of women in the academic and ecclesiastical-theological sector by creating a wider range of networking and continuing education opportunities.