Rowena Morse Mentoring Program

For female junior researchers and artists of the Thuringian universities

The interdisciplinary program supports female doctoral students in the final phase of their doctorate and female postdocs in the orientation phase for their professional future. During the 12-month program, the mentees network with each other, attend workshops and receive individual advice from experienced professors at Thuringian universities in group mentoring sessions.

The Thuringia-wide Rowena Morse Mentoring Program enters its seventh round in November 2024

In 2018, we launched our Rowena Morse Mentoring Program with the first cohort. Since then, we have successfully supported more than 100 young female researchers and artists with the program.

As part of the current 7th cohort of 2024/2025, female doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers from Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the University of Erfurt, Ilmenau University of Technology, Erfurt University of Applied Sciences and the University of Applied Sciences Jena have been accepted to the program.

Subject to further project funding, we plan to continue the Rowena Morse Mentoring Program for female doctoral and postdoctoral researchers at Thuringian universities with an 8th cohort in 2025/2026 from November 2025. Further information will be published here in June 2025.

If you have any questions about the mentoring program, please feel free to contact the program coordinators at kontakt@tkg-info.de.

Futher information about the program

Program goals

With this program, Thuringia’s universities pursue the goal of providing young female researchers and artists with intensive support especially tailored to the needs of their target groups.

The program is specifically designed to:

assist in making a reflective career decision,
provide necessary knowledge, key competencies and contacts for planning and implementing an entry into a career in science or business,
to offer a long-term supportive peer network,
to strengthen self- and social competencies,
to successfully shape the transition into the further scientific qualification phase.

The Rowena-Morse-Mentoring-Program consists of four elementary components

Combined peer and group mentoring:

The core of the program is a combined offering of peer and group mentoring.

In Peer-Mentoring, the mentees form hierarchy-free and self-responsible career teams in peer groups and organize the meetings of their respective peer groups independently. In Group-Mentoring, the individual peer groups are supported by an experienced professor as a mentor, who acts as a positive role model and works on the topics developed by the mentees in Peer-Mentoring.

Training offers for career-relevant key qualifications

In addition to excellent qualifications, self, social, leadership and management skills in higher education and science are crucial for a successful career in science. For this purpose, the mentees are offered demand-oriented training workshops on various topics.

Networking

In addition to networking within each cohort’s peer groups and plenary, cross-cutting networking opportunities with alumnae will be offered.

Quality Assurance

The RMMP is evaluated on the basis of regular surveys of mentees and mentors, among other things. This ensures that the program can be continuously improved.

Program schedule

The duration of the mentoring program is one year. The mentoring program begins annually in November (one year term).

Application

FAQ

Here you will find answers to frequently asked questions:

What is MENTORING?

Mentoring programmes are designed as time-limited support measures and are geared to specific target groups, taking into account the different requirements and needs. Particularly in situations of transition and decision-making, such as career transitions at the interfaces of university graduation / doctorate / postdoc phase and habilitation / appointment, accompanying mentoring programmes offer a suitable instrument for targeted support. Through their combination of training in career-relevant key competencies and support through professional networking, women scientists can be offered targeted guidance through mentoring.

Who is the programme for?

The programme is aimed at female doctoral students of all disciplines in the final phase of their doctorate as well as postdoctoral researchers while planning their further career path.

Who are the mentors?

The mentors in the RMMP are professionally experienced scientists from the Thuringian universities who advise the mentees in their professional development, inform them about important rules of the game and work cultures, and introduce them to relevant spheres of a scientific career.

What do the mentors acoomplish?

Advice and knowledge transfer

Mentors provide advice and encouragement to their mentees and support them in reflecting on their current professional situation and prospects as well as potentials and opportunities, defining goals, developing strategies for achieving goals, and pursuing these in concrete steps.

Providing guidance and strategies

The mentor points out possibilities for solving complex problems impartially and independently. In the joint work, development potentials become visible and promising solution possibilities are discovered.

Support

The mentor passes on his/her own professional experience to the mentees and imparts formal and informal (experiential) knowledge to the mentees about structures, processes and rules of the science and university system.

Networking

The mentor makes the mentees aware of the connections between career development, networking and cooperation and provides suggestions for relevant networks.

WHAT ARE MY REQUIREMENTS AND GAINS IF I PARTICIPATE?

Mentoring can help mentees achieve the following goals:

Strengthening of self-competences (“empowerment”)
Insights into different university structures and subject cultures
Reflection on gender-sensitive factors of a career as a leader
Support in planning concrete plans and career steps
(Scientific) profile building
Acquisition of career-relevant key competencies
Insight into the subject-specific international scientific community
cross-university (peer) networking
Development of strategies to reconcile professional and family obligations or to achieve a work-life balance

WHAT PROGRAM EVENTS SHOULD THE MENTEES PARTICIPATE IN?

The individual components of the RMMP build on each other and should be completed as far as possible. In particular, the kick-off event with the preparatory workshop and the individual group and peer mentoring meetings are of central importance for the success of the program. Participation in the training courses on career-relevant key qualifications is strongly recommended, but there is no obligation to attend all individual meetings.

In case of scheduling conflicts (e.g. due to participation in conferences, research trips or if you cannot complete the program due to professional reasons), we ask you to inform us in good time. Together with you we will look for possibilities for an individual solution.

IN WHICH PROGRAM LANGUAGE IS THE RMMP OFFERED?

The RMMP is offered in German. If required, we will endeavor to conduct individual program modules in English as well. Please let us know in your application if you prefer English as the only program language.

WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION?

Thüringer Kompetenznetzwerk Gleichstellung
c/o Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Jenergasse 8
07743 Jena

Telefon: 03641/9-401350
E-Mail: kontakt@tkg-info.de

A detailed guide to the Rowena Morse Mentoring Programme in German can be found here.

The basic concept of the mentoring program was developed in the Vice President’s Office for Young Academics and Equal Opportunity at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena and made available for implementation throughout Thuringia.

In the mentoring working group of the TKG, the basic concept was further developed cooperatively with participation opportunities for all Thuringian universities as a joint concept.