UNESCO-L’Oréal Support Programme in Germany
DUK and L'Oréal Germany, in partnership with the Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Foundation, provide three support awards of 20,000 Euro to outstanding female Ph.D. scientists with children each year.
The cooperation “For Women in Science" of UNESCO and L’Oréal supports outstanding women scientists all over the world since 1998. Each year, L’Oréal-UNESCO awards are presented to five leading women researchers. Fifteen UNESCO-L’Oréal mobility Fellowships are awarded to highly talented junior women scientists. In Germany, DUK, L’Oréal Germany and the Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Foundation organize a complementary programme for highly qualified female Ph.D. scientists, who have children.
The objective of the programme is to promote excellence in scientific research in Germany. Financial support is given to highly qualified and dedicated women scientists whose personal circumstances, especially frequently in the German case, may cause the interruption or may even end an otherwise highly promising career just about to start off. Young women scientists, through this programme, can take advantage of their full scientific potential through individual support being given to them. The key idea is to provide time to concentrate on scientific work.
The support programme in detail
Three doctoral candidates are supported for the period of one year starting from the date the award is presented to them. An amount of up to EUR 20,000 will be awarded to each fellow and will cover expenses in the following three areas:
- Financial support of up to EUR 400 per month to cover home help or to cover additional child care, to provide extra time for the scientific work of the fellow
- An individual career advancement programme with components such as provision of coaching and mentoring as well as participation in career seminars and international conferences
- Financial support for the host institution to be utilized in accordance with the objectives of the grant programme
Who can apply and how to apply?
The programme is open to promising, highly qualified, female doctoral candidates. Eligible are applicants from the experimental life sciences, medicine, and other scientific disciplines with long hours of work in inflexible, strict working conditions.
Preconditions of a successful application are that the living expenses are already covered by a work contract or scholarship and that the children receive care either in a day care facility or by a nanny. The research during the period of support must be carried out in Germany except for temporary work periods abroad.
The following documents should accompany the application, preferably in PDF format:
- A C.V. set out in tabular form
- Copies of all relevant certificates
- A short report outlining the scientific work currently carried out, the planned progress including concrete research objectives and a provisional research schedule (max. 2 pages)
- A short outline of the personal situation and the anticipated use of the financial support (max. 0,5 page)
- Two reference letters from scientists who are acquainted with the research work you’re involved in. Please refer to the “Notes for authors of reference letters” on the www.cnv-stiftung.de website.
Send your application to: unesco-loreal(at)cnv-stiftung.de
Closing date is 31 December each calendar year. Further information can be found online at: www.fwis-programm.de and www.cnv-stiftung.de.
The selection procedure and the jury
Candidates on the short-list will be invited to an interview approximately three weeks after receipt of their application. The decision based on the interview will be made known to the candidates on the short list two weeks after the interview at the latest.
Prof Dr Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard
Director at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology.
Studied biology, physics and biochemistry in Frankfurt und Tübingen, Germany.
PhD in 1973. Professor 1985. Embryology and genetics.
Nobel Prize in medicine 1995.
Member of various councils.
Prof Dr Maria Leptin
Dept. of Development Genetics, Cologne University, Institute of Genetics.
Degrees in mathematics and biology from Bonn and Heidelberg, Germany.
PhD in 1979. Full Professor 1994. Cell and Developmental Biology. Member of various councils. 2 sons.
Dr Brigitte Mühlenbruch
Vice president of the European Platform of Women Scientists (EPWS), Brussels, Belgium.
Studied Pharmacy in Würzburg und Bonn, Germany. PhD in 1969. Member of various councils.
Dr Lutz Möller
German Commission for UNESCO
Dr Ludger Neumann
L’Oréal Research
The laureates
2009
Dr. Mareike Leffler of the Friedrich-Alexander-University in Erlangen.
Dr. Stefanie Reissmann, a researcher at the Max-Planck-institute for terrestrial microbiology in Marburg.
Dr. Margarita Staykova, a PostDoc in the research group of Dr. R. Dimova in the divison Theory & Biosystems.
2008
Dr. Dr. Ada Cavalcanti-Adam, a researcher of the University of Heidelberg/Max-Planck-institute.
Dr. Eva Rother of the Cologne University.
Dr. Corette Wierenga working at the Max-Planck-institute in Martinsried.
2007
Dr. Maïwen Caudron-Herger of the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg.
Dr. Petra Ritter, a researcher at the Neuro-Imaging Center, Berlin.
Dr. Susanne Schreiber of the Charité in Berlin.
The partners
The Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Foundation's aim is to facilitate the progress of highly qualified women scientists with children in the hope that more of them will reach the top of the ladder in scientific research. By providing them with funds for additional child care and domestic help, outstanding post-doctoral fellows have more time to concentrate on their scientific work. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard is a Nobel prize laureate and in 2006, she received a L’Oréal-UNESCO special award for her outstanding work in the area of women in science.
L’Oréal is a worldwide leader in the cosmetics industry, represented in 130 countries. Around 3,000 people work in the Group’s research centres, located in France, Asia and America. L’Oréal research registers over 500 patents each year. Women represent 55% of the research workforce – a percentage unmatched anywhere else in the industry.
