Gender equality means that both women and men should be able to combine their (academic) career with caring responsibilities at different stages of family life. The Leibniz Association helps its institutions introduce appropriate measures to create better conditions for combining work and family.

The Leibniz Equality Report 2020 documents that almost all Leibniz institutions offer flexible working time and workplace models. About half of the institutions also support employment for the partners of employees and prospective employees (dual career). The report also shows positive developments in terms of childcare: about a third of all Leibniz institutions subsidise childcare for employees attending further training and conferences, 39 per cent offer emergency childcare through external service providers and 28 percent have reserved spaces in day-care centres for the children of their employees.

Under a resolution passed by the annual meeting of the General Assembly, member institutions are encouraged to apply for certification of their efforts to support work-life balance. 80 Leibniz institutions have successfully applied for or renewed their certification through audit berufundfamilie or the Total E-Quality award.

In 2012, a Leibniz-wide Audit Berufundfamilie Network was set up. The aim of the network is to promote contacts and share experiences between the participating institutes, partly through annual workshops. These are opportunities to discuss experiences of problems and successes in implementing family-friendly measures and to develop joint solutions.

Making research compatible with caring responsibilities is a principle firmly enshrined in the Leibniz Association’s central funding programmes, for instance by making allowances for time spent bringing up children (two years per child) in the Leibniz Competition process, and by providing childcare options for those taking part in the Leibniz Mentoring Programme and the Leibniz Leadership Academy. Within the Leibniz Competition, it is also possible to apply for funding for work-life balance measures.

Contact
Dr Alexandra Schweiger
Leibniz Association
Chausseestraße 111
10115 Berlin
T +49 30 206049 617
schweiger@leibniz-gemeinschaft.de
Contact Leibniz Network audit berufundfamilie
Nina Grohmann
Equal Opportunities Officer
Research Center Borstel - Leibniz Lung Center
Parkallee 22
23845 Borstel
T +49 4537 188 5807
gleichstellung@fz-borstel.de