Female scientists work to create sustainable solutions

As the success of the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology depends on it having an excellent workforce, it is essential that AIT is an attractive employer. Promoting diversity and equality plays a key role in this context. For this reason, AIT is involved in the United Nations’ annual International Day of Women & Girls in Science, which this year takes place on 11 February 2023.

This year’s motto is “Bringing Everyone Forward for Sustainable and Equitable Development”, and focuses on the role of young women in science in achieving the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): SDG 6 (Clean water and sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

The initiators stress that gender equality and strengthening the role of women and girls will make a critical contribution to global economic development. The International Day of Women & Girls in Science helps to network women in science, thereby strengthening relationships between science, politics and society to engender forward-looking strategies.

Sustainability is a core research field at AIT: Our seven Centers conduct intensive research into carbon neutral solutions for energy, mobility and the use of biological resources, and into innovative technologies which provide important solutions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Let us introduce you to eight exciting young female scientists at AIT whose research is making a scientific impact in the fields of energy efficiency and environmental and climate protection. You will also gain an insight into what they see as their own personal areas of responsibility.

Equality of all genders has a fixed place in AIT's corporate understanding - as an organization in which equal opportunities, fairness, communicative openness, empowerment and committed participation in the design of processes and structures are of great importance. It is a binding goal of AIT to particularly promote women and to support them in their personal advancement across all career paths. This is considered a management task that is shared across all hierarchical levels. "Through its ongoing Gender & Diversity initiatives, AIT is actively contributing to sealing its own leaky pipeline, creating an environment that enables individual women's careers and empowers women. We have already achieved a lot, but there is still a lot to do," Guenther said.

In 2020, the AIT Equality Measures Program received the "equalitA" seal of approval for the internal advancement of women from the Federal Ministry for Digitalization and Economic Location. This recognizes companies that promote women within the company, ensure gender equality within the company and promote and make visible women's careers.