Aachen Forum for Female Doctoral Students is Awarded the Brigitte Gilles Prize 2018
As part of the “RWTH transparent” festivities taking place on April 5, 2019, the Aachen Forum for Female Doctoral Students (“Dokforum”) was awarded the Brigitte Gilles Prize 2018, including prize money of 2,500 €. Since 2017, the Dokforum has been led and supervised by Sandra Kiefer, Department Coordinator and doctoral student of computer science.
Named after the first women’s affairs officer at RWTH Aachen, the Brigitte Gilles Prize is awarded annually to initiatives that improve women’s conditions for studying, teaching, and doing research at the university and contribute to increasing the number of female scientists and students in study programs with a low percentage of women.
Starting in 2005, the interdisciplinary Dokforum has been improving life and research conditions for female doctoral candidates at RWTH Aachen, aiming to increase the percentage of successfully obtained doctorates by women. The self-organized network is the only institution of its kind that reaches across the whole university and specifically addresses female doctoral students. The information supplies, consulting services, and networking opportunities help them to meet their challenges during their doctoral studies and support them on their career paths. Since 2017, its focus is on coaching soft-skills and interdisciplinary expertise. Besides regular informal meetups for exchange, opportunities are provided for peer observation of teaching, to practice conference presentations, and participate in soft-skill workshops. In addition, the Dokforum organizes guest talks, held for instance by female researchers that already obtained their doctorate.
Interested female doctoral students can register here for the Dokforum mailing list.