Gender & Diversity Consulting for Research Alliances

Equal opportunities are an essential element of successful research, and thus an integral part of modern application procedures.

Proposals for funding through the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Hessian LOEWE Programme require that applicants present their own efforts as well as the university's activities on gender and diversity. In addition, the relevance of sex, gender, and diversity for the research content must be reflected in proposals submitted to the DFG and EU Horizon Europe. A convincing gender equality strategy is therefore part of a successful application for research funding.

The Gender & Diversity Consulting for Research Alliances supports all of Goethe University's proposal initiatives in this regard.

Goethe University's Central Gender Equality & Diversity Action Plan (“Zentraler Aktionsplan Chancengleichheit 2019-2014", in German only) is a “Gender Equality Plan" (GEP) in accordance with the EU research funding programme Horizon Europe.

Our Support for You Includes:

• Advice on how to create a gender equality and diversity concept for your project
• Data and information on equal opportunities
• Support with draft und full proposals on equality and diversity
• Support with on-site reviews

In 2020, the German Research Foundation (DFG) introduced a new chapter, "Relevance of sex, gender and diversity in research", in their application procedure. In addition to the chapter and module on equal opportunities, this section asks to reflect the relevance of sex, gender and diversity in the content of the proposed project (e.g. in relation to the research group, animal experiments, or transfer).This is particularly important in social and life sciences. If there is no relevance of sex, gender, and/or diversity for the research project content, no information must be provided.

Further information, with examples and checklists, can be found on  DFG's page (German Research Foundation). We consult you on writing the chapter and help to reflect the relevance of sex, gender, and diversity for your research project.

For more information on the topic and how to incorporate the reflection into your research, please check out our guideline “Sex, Gender and Diversity in Research. A Guideline for Research Proposals".