Initiated by the German Federal Government and the Länder, the Women Professors Program aims at promoting equal opportunities for women and men at universities, to increase the number of women in top positions in research, and to sustainably improve the representation of women at all qualification levels in the academic system. In all, 111 universities from all 16 federal states took part in the first selection round of the program. Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität Berlin, and Technische Universität Berlin are among the 86 universities selected by the Joint Science Conference (GWK) of the Federal Government and the Länder. They can apply for up to three start-up fundings for the initial appointment of women to tenured W2 or W3 professorships.

Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität Berlin were also honored as two out of ten universities with the title “Gleichstellung Ausgezeichnet!” (Outstanding Equal Opportunity!). The award went to universities rated as outstanding in their concepts for personnel development and recruitment on the way to professorship. This award gives them an opportunity to claim funding for a fourth initial appointment of a woman.

Within the framework of the Women Professors Program, the universities have implemented numerous measures and activities to promote equal opportunities for the program’s target groups – women professors, early-career women researchers, and women students in subjects in which they are underrepresented – and to improve the compatibility of studying and/or research and family. Evaluations show that the proportion of women in professorships at German universities increased more sharply during the period than would have been expected according to the trend of previous years.

Within the framework of the GWK, the German Federal Government and the Länder negotiate and adopt joint programs to promote research. Members of the GWK are the ministers of finance and research of the Federal Government and the Länder.