An interview with the spokesperson for the Profile Center, Prof. Dr. Kai Phillip Schmidt
You are responsible for diversity and equal opportunities at the FAU Profile Center Light.Matter.QuantumTechnologies. What would be the ideal situation for you as far as this topic is concerned?
Ideally, we wouldn’t have to talk about this topic at all, but that is a utopian dream. A great deal of progress has been made in equal opportunities during the last few decades. For example, the number of new female students studying physics at FAU has continued to rise and was at 40 percent last winter semester. This is higher than the national average and at least twice as high as 30 years ago when I studied physics. There is still a lot to be done, for example, regarding the number of female professors or the issue of balancing a family and a career. Diversity is still a comparatively new topic at universities in Germany. There are many aspects to it and a lot of work still needs to be done.
The Profile Center is still new and has set itself some ambitious targets for more diversity and equal opportunities in academia. What is particularly important?
I believe that it is crucial to keep diversity and equal opportunities in mind whenever decisions are made at the Profile Center. As spokesperson of the Center, I can personally vouch for this. In addition, we are increasing our activities on the solid foundation FAU has already established in this area. For example, we are planning mentoring programs for doctoral candidates and post-docs as well as diversity scholarships for underrepresented groups.
What are the greatest challenges and where is the greatest need for action in your opinion?
Even though there are many aspects to equal opportunities and diversity, we are going to focus our activities on three core issues, namely equal opportunities, internationalization and balancing a family and a career. We are tailoring our measures to match the Profile Center’s fields of research in which female researchers continue to be underrepresented on all levels and the level of internationalization is still quite moderate.
Is there anything you didn’t anticipate when it comes to diversity and equal opportunities before you took on your role?
I was the women’s representative at the Department of Physics at FAU from 2017 to 2019. During this time, I set up the “Physics Diversity Network” (Phydine) with two female doctoral candidates, something that is unique in Germany as far as I know. We came up with the idea quite spontaneously during an event held by the Faculty of Sciences where we realized how great the need was and how much interest there was in this area. This is something I didn’t anticipate.
What does diversity mean to you personally in your team?
In a diverse team, there are several points of view, topics to talk about and cultures. Personally, I find this very rewarding and I really enjoy it.
An interview with the spokesperson for the Profile Center, Prof. Dr. Kai Phillip Schmidt
You are responsible for diversity and equal opportunities at the FAU Profile Center Light.Matter.QuantumTechnologies. What would be the ideal situation for you as far as this topic is concerned?
Ideally, we wouldn’t have to talk about this topic at all, but that is a utopian dream. A great deal of progress has been made in equal opportunities during the last few decades. For example, the number of new female students studying physics at FAU has continued to rise and was at 40 percent last winter semester. This is higher than the national average and at least twice as high as 30 years ago when I studied physics. There is still a lot to be done, for example, regarding the number of female professors or the issue of balancing a family and a career. Diversity is still a comparatively new topic at universities in Germany. There are many aspects to it and a lot of work still needs to be done.
The Profile Center is still new and has set itself some ambitious targets for more diversity and equal opportunities in academia. What is particularly important?
I believe that it is crucial to keep diversity and equal opportunities in mind whenever decisions are made at the Profile Center. As spokesperson of the Center, I can personally vouch for this. In addition, we are increasing our activities on the solid foundation FAU has already established in this area. For example, we are planning mentoring programs for doctoral candidates and post-docs as well as diversity scholarships for underrepresented groups.
What are the greatest challenges and where is the greatest need for action in your opinion?
Even though there are many aspects to equal opportunities and diversity, we are going to focus our activities on three core issues, namely equal opportunities, internationalization and balancing a family and a career. We are tailoring our measures to match the Profile Center’s fields of research in which female researchers continue to be underrepresented on all levels and the level of internationalization is still quite moderate.
Is there anything you didn’t anticipate when it comes to diversity and equal opportunities before you took on your role?
I was the women’s representative at the Department of Physics at FAU from 2017 to 2019. During this time, I set up the “Physics Diversity Network” (Phydine) with two female doctoral candidates, something that is unique in Germany as far as I know. We came up with the idea quite spontaneously during an event held by the Faculty of Sciences where we realized how great the need was and how much interest there was in this area. This is something I didn’t anticipate.
What does diversity mean to you personally in your team?
In a diverse team, there are several points of view, topics to talk about and cultures. Personally, I find this very rewarding and I really enjoy it.