The first International Women Scientist Meeting was held on the 3rd and 4th of October 2013 at the ETH Zurich. It was held in conjunction with the NCCR MUST (Molecular Ultrafast Science and Technology) and 35 scientists from 14 German and Swiss universities took part. The program included a coaching workshop from the German organization SheBoss, lab tours, and scientific talks from the junior research leaders in the network. The workshop was enthusiastically received by professors, postdoc and Ph.D. students alike, with many opportunities for discussion and networking.

One of the participants Jun. Prof. Dr. Ana-Nicoleta Bondar wrote "I am writing to express my enthusiasm for the 2013 International Meeting of the Female Faculty that I joined. I greatly enjoyed and benefited from the meeting, with its program of science and coaching talks. It was the first time that I had the opportunity to take part in a meeting where distinguished female faculty join junior faculty or group leaders like myself, postdocs and graduate students, to discuss science, how one does science, and how one advances her scientific career. The career advice I received from Prof. Havenith and from Prof. Keller and the mock job interview carried out during the coaching session are extremely valuable for my professional development."

Another participant remarked "The essential message, which I took from this 2-day workshop, is that it takes more than just a supporting political framework to bring excellent and ambitious women into responsible positions in science. It is as important to prepare these women for the challenges they will encounter along the way to reaching their goals."

More information on NCCR MUST can be found here.

Some impressions of the workshop are shown below (images courtesy of Heidi Hostettler ETHZ).