The very first graduate research group in Germany dedicated to the topic of gravitational physics recently opened its doors. One of the special features of the research group, which is run jointly by the University of Bremen and the University of Oldenburg, becomes immediately apparent as soon as you enter the lecture room: of the one hundred PhD students who have been admitted, over half are women. All too often, this field is a generally a male domain in which women are relatively seldom represented.
The high female quota in the DFG research group at the University of Bremen and the University of Oldenburg has not been left to chance. It is mainly the result of proactive preparation on the part of its organizers, Prof. Claus Lämmerzahl from the University of Bremen’s Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) and Prof.Jutta Kunz from the University of Oldenburg.
The research group at ZARM led by Claus Lämmerzahl is also exemplary in this respect, for years being the group within the institute with the highest female quota. At the University of Oldenburg, Jutta Kunz has long been active in the area of gender equity and has been deputy women’s representative in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences for many years. “My experience influenced my contributions while planning the research group”, she stresses. For Claus Lämmerzahl it is a matter of course that he has a special focus on attracting women to the MINT subjects (Mathematics, Informatics, Natural Sciences, and engineering): “In matter concerning young researchers, the ZARM Institute is particularly interested in motivating young women to research topics in the fields of space technology and physics – and the best way to do that is to practice what you preach by way of role models”.
But what precisely is gravitational physics all about? The geometry of space and time, black holes, time travel, worm holes, the Big Bang: Sounds a bit like experimenting with a chemistry set for grown-is. But gravitational physics actually impacts the lives of all of us: for example, understanding things like GPS (Global Positioning System) entails using the same formulism used for describing black holes, and without which errors of more than ten kilometers a day would occur in GPS every day – not difficult to imagine the consequences for aircraft coming In to land.
For details concerning the field, please contact:
Universität Bremen
Zentrum für angewandte Raumfahrttechnologie und Mikrogravitation (ZARM)
Prof. Claus Lämmerzahl
Phone: +49 421 218 57834
E-Mail: claus.laemmerzahlprotect me ?!zarm.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
General inquiries and press relations:
Universität Bremen
Zentrum für angewandte Raumfahrttechnologie und Mikrogravitation (ZARM)
Birgit Kinkeldey
ZARM, Universität Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218 57755
E-Mail: birgit.kinkeldeyprotect me ?!zarm.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
www.zarm.uni-bremen.de
