Staff Support for Female Habilitands with Care Responsibilities
The overall gender care gap currently stands at 43.4%. This means that women spend an average of 43.4 percent more time per day on unpaid care work (housework, childcare, other care responsibilities) than men. This difference in unpaid care work also has an impact in academia, as women there also have to bear the double burden of a professional career and unpaid care work. Care responsibilities are particularly significant during periods of further academic training: caring for children or relatives significantly limits flexibility, mobility, and time resources, leading to structural competitive disadvantages that cannot be compensated for at the individual level. This is still reflected today in the underrepresentation of women in top academic positions.
Our goal is to support young female academics who are in the advanced stages of their habilitation by funding a student assistant (9 hours/week) for a maximum of 12 months. This is especially helpful for those who are expecting a child or already have young children (or children who require more care, e.g., due to illness) or have other care responsibilities (caring for relatives), this measure can alleviate the additional time burden associated with care work by having the assistant take on time-consuming tasks such as literature research, compiling bibliographies or annotations, checklists, proofreading, or layout tasks.
Funding Scope
A total of up to three student assistant positions with a maximum of approx. 9 hours/week (mini-job limit) can be financed from faculty funds for a maximum period of 12 months to provide support during the habilitation phase.
The habilitand must be employed by the Faculty of Arts and must not have received any funding of this kind before. The possibility of support within the framework of the STEP program must be examined beforehand. Corresponding explanations must be included in the application.
A selection committee decides on the approval of applications. There is no legal entitlement to funding.
Application
Your application must contain the following information:
- Informal application explaining your personal situation and why you need financial support
- Declaration that no other funding options (e.g., STEP) are available
- Curriculum vitae in tabular form
- Brief explanation of the current status of your habilitation and schedule for the final phase
- Letter of recommendation from your supervisor or institute director
- Brief job description for the student research assistant
- Consent to participate in anonymous surveys, even beyond the duration of the project
Conditions
Application Deadlines
The student assistant is hired by the respective institute. The documents normally required for this purpose must be submitted to the Human Resources Department.
The applicant must submit a personal report on the success of the measure no later than three months after the funding period.
The applicant commits to participating in anonymous surveys to evaluate the measure and remains available for such surveys throughout the duration of the measure.
You may submit applications starting in January 2026. The funds available are limited.
When hiring a student assistant, please note the deadlines for the annual financial statements in the human resources management, which are usually announced by the university's human resources department.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact the person listed below.
Contact
Dr. Martina Pottek