Vorstellung des Projekts:

The project ‘Safe Spaces in STEM’ aims to raise awareness on discrimination, empower those affected and embed inclusive practices into everyday academic life. It is tailored to - but not exclusive to - students (B.Sc., M.Sc., PhD) and post‐doctoral researchers in Computer Science, Physics and related departments. We will offer three workshops between October and December 2026 around the topic of creating respectful, diversity-sensitive, and gender-fair work environments. Feedback and assessment will be communited with departments.

The project is organized by Dr. Nelly Mouawad, coordinator of the newly FU-based student-centered, and community-driven project Stick to STEM – a project funded by the Berlin Equal Opportunities Program, and supported by the Department of Physics and Institute of Computer Science - and Carl-Levi Reuter from KriMINeL² - a student initiative in the STEM departments at FU-Berlin active since 2021.

Incentive: Women members remain markedly under‐represented in the physics and computer science majors at FU-Berlin. Female students comprise only 20‐33 % of enrolments, while women hold fewer than 15 % of professorial positions. Roughly half of the master’s and PhD students in this fields are international. Such figures point to a systemic need for supportive initiatives on diversity and inclusion, particular tailored towards intersectional groups, women and queer individuals, international and people of color.

The proposed pilot project therefore aims to develop and implement three interactive, skill‐based workshops. While these workshops are inclusive to all members, we especially target science students and post‐doctoral researchers who already supervise, mentor or organise activities (e.g., tutors, lab assistants, coordinators). The goal is to equip participants with practical tools for creating and sustaining safe, respectful work environments, aligns everyday language with the university’s new gender‐fair language regulation, and familiarises attendees with the FU-Berlin Code of Conduct. By fostering a culture of open exchange, the workshops aim to (i) raise awareness of diversity and anti-discrimination issues, (ii) increase the visibility of the university’s inclusion policies, (iii) support members who experience discrimination, and (iv) identify concrete needs that can be addressed at the departmental administrative level.