Speakers at Women's Careers and Networks Symposium 2025
Was held in-person at MPI Faßberg Campus, Göttingen on 5th of June, 2025
- Petra Broistedt, Mayor of Göttingen since November 2021 (Opening Remarks)
- Head of the Institute of Neurobiology in Heinrich Heine University D Düsseldorf, specializing in neurophysiology and cellular neurobiology
- Talk title: "How I became a scientist: a personal account of my career" Abstract
- Co-Group Leader at the Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Frankfurt, studying neural dynamics and complementary cognitive processing
- Talk title: "1+1=3 : How running a lab together is more than worth it" Abstract
- Professor in biomedical radiation sciences at Uppsala University, CEO of Akiram Therapeutics, researching cancer precision medicine
- Talk title: "From Lab Rat to Business Cat: An Academic's Journey from Innovation to Implementation" Abstract
- Senior Scientist at Demant, a Danish multinational company involved with hearing care, hearing aids, audiometric equipment and personal communication devices
- Talk title: "My Transition from Academia to Industry - A Heartbreak or Dance of Joy" Abstract
- Head of Public Engagement and Impact at the Museum for Naturkunde Berlin
- Talk title: "Proactive Career Shaping: Making Opportunities & Opening Doors" Abstract
- Group Leader at Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, studying the consequences of sleep deprivation on cognitive function in animal model.
- Talk title: "From Invisible to Influential – Amplifying Women's Voices in Science" Abstract
- CEO and Co-Founder of Abcalis GmbH
- Talk title: "Is Sustainability a typical women's issue?" Abstract
There are probably many different ways to become a university professor, a profession that is actually two or even three different professions: scientist, academic teacher, and (last but not least) administrator. In my presentation, I will talk about my career path and the key moments that kept me in academia. Not only my continuous development in the scientific and academic field, but also personal developments and choices have played a role. I will also talk about the challenges I faced after becoming a full professor, including when I started to get involved in mentoring and supporting young (female) scientists.
A career in science is not only very exciting and fulfilling, but can also be frustrating, disappointing, and lonely at times. How to better overcome these challenges than by facing them together? In my talk, I will share with you the journey that my Co-PI Martha and I undertook to build and run a lab together – and place our endeavour in the wider context of alternative models of leadership in science.
The transition from academia to entrepreneurship is rarely a straight path, especially for women in science. In this talk, I will share my journey from being a cancer researcher at Uppsala University to co-founding and being CEO at a biotech company—bridging the gap between innovation and real-world application. In this talk, I’ll share key lessons, insights, and advice for those looking to turn scientific discovery into real-world impact.
The talk is all about what I learned along the way while making the leap from the PhD to the industry. I will share my take on doing research in the industry - what is exciting, what is less great, and which skills from my PhD have turned out to be surprisingly useful. If you are feeling a bit lost in the rat race and wondering whether moving to the industry is the right move, I hope this talk may give you some clarity (or at least a fresh perspective).
What attitudes, activities, and actions that are critical in proactively shaping your own career? From personal experience, good and bad, I want to inspire you to be more proactive in asking the most from yourself, and from your working life. I spent my early 30's letting others shape my career, but I realised I had skills that were not being used and ambitions not being realised. The next few years brought about a change of perspective, rigorous self questioning of what I actually wanted to do, and what difference I wanted to make. From then on I took a very proactive approach to career building. These are the skills and insights I will pass on to you.
Navigating a career in science as a woman comes with unique challenges—being overlooked, struggling to be heard, and facing biases that only grow with seniority. Yet, despite these obstacles, mentorship and support networks have been my driving force to stay in academia. In this talk, I’ll share my journey from Europe to Harvard and back to leading my own research group, the hurdles I faced along the way, and how mentorship—both as a mentee and a mentor—has shaped my path. I’ll discuss why finding allies, amplifying each other’s voices, and actively building networks are essential for creating a more inclusive scientific community. Most importantly, I’ll leave you with practical strategies to make yourself visible, advocate for others, and turn struggle into strength.
While topics such as sustainability and avoiding animal testing were ridiculed just a few years ago, these issues are becoming increasingly relevant, not only socially but also economically. The journey of the biotech company Abcalis started 5 years ago with the vision of banning animal testing from the laboratory and is now more relevant than ever.
Pre-Symposium Talks
For WoCaNet 2025, we also held online Pre-Symposium Talks on Zoom with three speakers.
Dr. Maria Klawe, President of Math for America, 28 April 2025 at 16:00 CET
Maria Klawe earned her B.Sc. and Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Alberta before embarking on a diverse academic and industry career. After a brief faculty appointment at Oakland University, she worked at IBM’s Almaden Research Center, progressing from research scientist to managerial roles. Maria spent 15 years at the University of British Columbia, serving as Head of Computer Science, Vice President of Student and Academic Services, and Dean of Science. She then became Dean of Engineering at Princeton University before being appointed the first woman president of Harvey Mudd College in 2006, a position she held until 2023. Renowned for her advocacy for women in STEM, Maria led transformative changes at Harvey Mudd, increasing female representation among students and faculty, and currently serves as President of Math for America. More info about her here.
Emma Robinson completed her PhD in medical image computing at Imperial College London in 2010, following research positions at FMRIB, University of Oxford, and BioMedIA. She is now a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Research Department of Biomedical Computing at King’s College London. Emma is renowned for developing computational methods for brain imaging, particularly her Multimodal Surface Matching (MSM) software, which has been central to the Human Connectome Project’s multimodal parcellation of the human cortex. Her research spans classical and AI-based approaches to neuroimaging, with recent work focusing on geometric deep learning for modeling cortical and cardiac surfaces, explainable AI for neuropsychiatric disease, and integrating multi-modality imaging with genetics. Emma serves on the board of Medical Imaging Deep Learning (MIDL) and is a handling editor for PLOS Computational Biology and Neuroimage. More info about her here.
Ulrike Harjes completed her undergraduate studies in molecular medicine at the University of Göttingen, Germany, and pursued postgraduate research in cancer biology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands. Her doctoral work at the University of Oxford, UK, focused on Notch signalling in endothelial cell metabolism and tumour angiogenesis. Ulrike continued her research as a postdoctoral fellow with Adrian Harris and later in Peter Carmeliet’s laboratory at KU Leuven, Belgium, exploring vascular metabolism in cancer and diabetes. She joined Nature Reviews Cancer as an Associate Editor in 2017 and moved to Nature Medicine as a Senior Editor in 2022, where she handles papers in cancer and immunology. Ulrike is currently based in the Berlin office. Reach out to her on Bluesky here.