As one of 12 of the 56 universities selected, it is also the only higher education institution in Hesse to be awarded the title of "Equal Opportunities Strong University".

This means that Hochschule RheinMain is now entitled to submit applications for up to three start-up grants for the initial appointment of women to permanent full professorships (W2) or (W3) until September 30, 2026. The "Gender Equality Strong Higher Education Institution" award is also linked to the possibility of funding an additional position for a female junior researcher. The HSRM is already participating in the current funding round of the program with three professorships, which will be funded until 2026.

"The fact that we were once again successful with our gender equality concept in this round - this time even with distinction - is great news and greatly supports us in our continuous efforts to achieve gender equality, especially in the engineering sciences," emphasizes University President Prof. Dr. Eva Waller.

Monika Stegmann, Women's and Gender Equality Commissioner at HSRM, is also delighted: "We are particularly pleased about the special award for our gender equality concept. It is a remarkable recognition that shows that our work is bearing fruit."

The female professors program

The Female Professors Program 2030 was adopted by the Joint Science Conference (GWK) in November 2022 and builds on the successful three previous program phases since 2008. The goal of the funding program is to dynamically increase the number of female professors towards parity, to promote (junior) female researchers on the path to a lifetime professorship and to retain them in academia, and to anchor gender equality even more firmly in the structure of higher education institutions. This will sustainably strengthen the necessary structural and cultural change towards greater gender equality at higher education institutions. The federal and state governments are providing a total of 320 million euros for the Women Professors Program 2030.