NEURONEXXT:Career platform for female neuroscientists launched at the RUB
Network will tackle barriers faced by women in science
“NEURONEXXT – Network for Women in Neuroscience” aims to increase the visibility of women in neuroscientific research. On 09.04.2019 the platform celebrated its kick-off in the Veranstaltungszentrum (Conference Center) of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Around Seventy invited guests attended the inaugural event and celebrated the launch of the website (www.nexxt.rub.de). Dr Christina Reinhardt, Chancellor of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and Prof. Dr Denise Manahan-Vaughan, initiator of the project, welcomed neuroscientists from the international and national community, the RUB and neighbouring universities. “We are delighted to launch this initiative and hope that NEURONEXXT will serve as a valuable tool for all those who wish to identify and network with female neuroscientists in the context of professional appointments, conference speakers and collaboration partners”, says Prof. Dr Denise Manahan-Vaughan, Head of the Department of Neurophysiology at the RUB.
Platform for equal opportunities in science
Women are still underrepresented in many areas of science, including neuroscience. The higher the level within the scientific career ladder, the lower the proportion of jobs that are occupied by women. The low visibility of female neuroscientists confounds initiatives that have been founded to address career equality. NEURONEXXT seeks to address this issue by offering a digital platform where women at all career stages ranging from the postdoctoral through to the senior scientist level can make their credentials known. The platform was founded as part of the Collaborative Research Center 874, “Integration and Representation of Sensory Processes”, which has been funded since 2010 at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Financially, NEURONEXXT is supported by equality funds of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
Synergies through Networking
NEURONEXXT not only serves to raise the international visibility of female neuroscientists, it also can be used as a resource for those who are looking for an expert in a special neuroscientific field, be it to fill an academic appointment, a professorship, to identify potential collaboration partners, or find guest lecturers for a conference. “With the help of NEURONEXXT, we aim to facilitate gender equality measures and in particular help female researchers advance to the highest levels of science”, explains Dr Sabine Dannenberg, coordinator of the SFB 874, who helped shape the project from the beginning.