GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany

 

The GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel is one of the leading marine science institutions in Europe with almost one thousand employees and a yearly budget of around 72 Mio Euro. In line with the institutes’ mission, the researchers at GEOMAR investigate the ocean as a whole including the physical, chemical, biological, and geological processes in the ocean and their interaction with the seafloor and the atmosphere, using state-of the-art technology and powerful research vessels. Research is conducted worldwide in all oceans and adjacent seas. The broad spectrum of research topics studied at GEOMAR fall under the following four major research divisions:

In line with the Federal Equality Law in Germany, GEOMAR has an equal opportunities commissioner that is elected for a term of four years. The first Gender Equality Plan (GEP) of the institution runs from 2015 to 2019 and focuses on increasing the number of women in leadership and in permanent scientific positions in the long term. In this respect, the equal opportunities commissioner works closely with the Women's Executive Board (WEB), which was founded in 2013 by women in leadership positions at GEOMAR. The WEB mission is to foster a modern equal opportunity-oriented culture at GEOMAR through equal participation of men and women at all levels and to promote and encourage qualified and motivated women to stay in science. 

Tasks

GEOMAR is the coordinator of the Baltic Gender project. It is also the leader of the work packages on dissemination, exploitation and communication (WP6), action management (WP7), implementation of GEPs (WP8) and ethical requirements (WP9). 

 

 

Core Team 

 
Prof. Dr Katja Matthes is the coordinator of Baltic Gender and will take up the position of the Scientific Director of GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel on the 1st of October, 2020. She has been a full professor of Marine Meteorology at GEOMAR and Kiel University since 2012. Her main expertise lies in the field of climate variability and climate change, especially the influence of the Sun on the climate. Prof. Matthes is the author or co-author of more than 75 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals and a contributing author of the current 6th IPCC report. She is the founder and a board member of the GEOMAR Women’s Executive Board (WEB) and a member of the AcademiaNet, a German online platform to enhance the visibility of excellent women in science. In May 2020, she has been selected as women scientist of the month by the European Platform of Women Scientists (EPWS).
Dr. Başak Kısakürek Ibsen is the project manager of Baltic Gender. Having worked as a researcher in marine biogeochemistry in England and in Germany in her early career, she changed her career path to work as a science officer at the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Office of the EU in Brussels. Since her return to Germany, she has been working as a scientific assistant and coordinator in various projects at GEOMAR.
Davina Bibiella works for the project coordination office of Baltic Gender. She has a master’s degree in Political Science and Historical Studies. During her studies at the Kiel University and Chungnam National University in South Korea she focused on international relations and international organizations.
Nikole Lorenz works for the gender equality team at GEOMAR since September 2017. Being an art historian by education, she moved on to working as a team assistant in the research division 'Oceandynamics' 
since 2015
Dr. Ulrike Schroller-Lomnitz is equal opportunities officer at GEOMAR. She studied Geosciences and received her Ph.D in the field of marine geochemistry at Kiel University. After having worked as a researcher in the Collaborative Research Center (SFB754) for a few years she took her chance to get into the field of gender equality by running for the office of equal opportunities officer. Her particular interests concern achieving equal opportunities for all men and women employed at GEOMAR, awareness raising of the topic, supporting a balanced combination of work and family life.

Kristin Hamann is working at the shared equal opportunity office at GEOMAR since June 2019. Her other working hours are dedicated to the project management of the European joint project MiningImpact, which conducts the research on the impacts and risks of deep sea mining. She holds two master degrees, one in Science Marketing and one in International Politics and International Law.

Equal opportunity officers make an essential contribution to the process optimization in institutes. Kristin wishes to make use of this office, particularly for the recruitment procedures and for the counselling of all employees at GEOMAR.

  Ms. Jana Hentschel is the administrative and financial contact for Baltic Gender at GEOMAR.

 

Gender Equality Implementation Team

Representatives of the board of directors

Chair of Scientific council

Chair of Women’s Executive Board

Equal opportunity officer

Staff council