You are Vice President for University Culture and Quality at the University of Marburg – would you have believed at the start of your research studies that you would wind up doing a job like this?
Not at all, no. I was interested in science, I wished to research. However there were hardly any role models for girls and women – I noticed that at school currently, where I was among the few ladies who had chosen math and physics as sophisticated courses. Even Lise Meitner was not discussed in the physics books at that time. Our physics instructor was a great advocate and even wrote a letter to book publishers with us because of it. I studied Meitner’s work and so this lady ended up being a role model for me. That is why I always had the sensation that I would like to do science.
She is credited with saying that her life does not always have to be simple, if only it were interesting. That was an unbelievable motivator for me.
There was no role model for female professors, that was a very remote idea. However if I had actually dared to develop it inwardly like that, I would have already said that being a researcher is an occupation I would like to have. University management is, of course, something you do not imagine as a trainee.
Do you have any pointers for trainees starting college now?
Yes. Do not jeopardize with yourself, study what you feel like and do not be impressed by what others state – for example, that you can not find a task with your degree. Listen inside yourself to what your enthusiasm is, do that. Also, think outside the box and do something crazy that does not fit your field.
We do not know how the task market is going to appear like in ten years. Those who are starting to study today are now 18 or 19. This generation will most likely work until they are 70, which is still over 50 years. If we go back 50 years from today and take a look at IT: That is when individuals were dealing with punch cards or magnetic tapes – nobody could have pictured Big Data.