To improve equal opportunity in the academic system in a sustainable manner, the federal and state governments launched the Professorinnenprogramm in 2007.

Since its inception, the program has pursued a two-pronged strategy: On the one hand, it aims for long-term gender parity in leadership positions among professors. On the other hand, it seeks to expand and strengthen the necessary gender equality structures at universities to achieve forward-looking success at all levels of academic qualification.

The program specifically supports women in their academic careers and has significantly increased the proportion of female professors at German universities. It is therefore a key instrument for advancing gender equality at universities and universities of applied sciences.

For more information on funding opportunities at the University of Rostock, please visit the website. 

Note:
The University of Rostock received a positive evaluation in the second round of submissions for the Professorinnenprogramm 2030.
As soon as the requested funding has been approved, we will inform you about the various gender equality measures financed by these funds.

The goal of the KarriereWegeMentoring Program is to systematically support outstanding female researchers in the postdoctoral phase as they advance in their careers.

In addition to the central mentoring relationship, KarriereWegeMentoring offers a diverse seminar program and participation in career-related networking events. Furthermore, peer mentoring with other participants opens up different perspectives, new strategies, and approaches to challenges in everyday professional life in science, research, and teaching.

Postdoctoral researchers and junior professors from the University of Rostock, Rostock University Medical Center, and a partner institution or affiliated institute (non-university research institution) of the University of Rostock are invited to apply.

Further information can be found on the program's website. 

The University of Rostock is committed to ensuring that academic training is accordable with family responsibilities and to breaking down structural barriers for doctoral candidates and postdocs with caring responsibilities.

To achieve these goals and support early-career researchers with family responsibilities (childcare, care for relatives, etc.), the University of Rostock is offering a scholarship program for early-career researchers.

The bridging and degree completion scholarships are intended to compensate for the additional workload resulting from extensive family obligations and the subsequent interruptions and delays in academic training.

Further information on the scholarships for early-career researchers can be found here.

The University of Rostock offers a variety of counseling and information services for its students, researchers, and staff. Balancing work, studies, personal life, and family is a challenge and often requires personalized guidance on a range of topics. The Office is available to assist you in this process and thereby approaches family as a place of diversity.

The Family Office website provides important information and contact details. In addition, the Family Office serves as the central point of contact and mediating body for all questions regarding the balance between work, studies, personal life, and family. If additional support is needed beyond existing services, the Family Office assists in finding individual solutions. All families are warmly welcome here.

Further information can be found on the Family Office’s website, including a section on “Finanzielle Unterstützung für Wissenschaftler*innen mit Kind” (Financial Support for Researchers with Children).

The CNV-Stiftung is dedicated to supporting female scientists with children in the experimental natural sciences and fundamental research in medicine. The foundation’s goal is to support talented female researchers during the demanding phases of their doctoral studies or postdoctoral work and to enable them to successfully continue their scientific work while fulfilling their family responsibilities.

With its scholarship program, the CNV-Stiftung contributes significantly to the compatibility of family and research. In addition to financial support, it offers scholarship recipients access to a network of dedicated female scientists and promotes professional exchange, for example during the annual foundation meeting.

Through this, the CNV-Stiftung creates an environment in which academic achievementand family responsibilities can be successfully balanced.

• Application Period?
  The application period runs annually from September 1 to November 30.
   
• Who is qualified to apply?
  Female doctoral candidates of all nationalities, female postdoctoral researchers of all nationalities
   
• Additional requirements?
  Full-time employment during the funding period
  Suspension of funding during parental leave
  The following are NOT eligible for funding: women pursuing a habilitation, junior professors, heads of independent research groups, and women in permanent full-time positions
   
• How to apply?
  online via the CNV-Stiftung’s website
   
• How is the funding provided?
  The funding amounts to €500 per month over a period of one year

ARD/ZDF is committed to promoting women in media technology. The goal of this award is to recognize and support talented women who have written forward-looking final theses in the field of media technology.

• Application Period?
  For the 2026 competition, documents must be uploaded by March 31, 2026.
   
• Who Can Apply?
  Only women who have completed a degree program at a German, Austrian, or Swiss university in the fields of technology and engineering, media studies, or other disciplines with a thesis thematically related to media technology are eligible to participate.
   
• Additional requirements?
  Your written thesis must have been accepted for the purpose of obtaining an academic degree between October 1, 2023, and March 31, 2026. The field of study or grade is irrelevant for the application.
  Your thesis must be written solely by you (collective works are only accepted if your contribution can be clearly distinguished from that of others) and must be in German or English.
  The topic of your thesis addresses technical issues in audiovisual media production and distribution or related fields. A clear technological focus of the thesis is essential!
   
• How to apply?
  Online via the ARD/ZDF Award website
   
• Award
  The award totals €10,000 and is divided among the first, second, and third-place winners.

Winners of the ARD/ZDF Award

• 2026 press release