Female researchers in mathematics are underrepresented among their peers in most countries and on most career levels. The fact that the proportion of women decreases when their cohort moves to higher qualification levels and career stages is known as the “leaky pipeline“ effect. One possible contribution to counteracting this gender gap is to offer specific mentoring programs for women in math in academia. The goal is to provide women in science with female mentors who can serve as their role models and support and encourage them as well as help them build a professional network, so that ultimately less female researchers drop out of the leaky pipeline.

We offer professional training for (prospective) mentors and people interested in setting up a mentoring program. Our focus is on mentoring for women in mathematics (and other theoretical sciences). The interactive mentoring training aims at preparing the participants for their future role as mentors and/or program organizers. More specifically, the goals of the training are

•  to analyze the necessity of mentoring and its role in promoting woman in math,
•  to clarify the role of a mentor, the limits of a mentoring relationships, and to identify contact points for further help,
• to train participants in active listening and prepare them to adequately respond to their mentees,
• to specifically prepare the mentors for the first meeting with their mentees, and
• to transmit the core values of mentoring.

The mentoring training is led by Carla Cederbaum (Tübingen) and Anna Wienhard (Heidelberg) and organized in the framework of the DFG Priority Program SPP2026 “Geometry at Infinity”. It is based on our experiences from Mentoring Programs at Heidelberg University and Tübingen University, see also https://mentoring.spp2026.de/. The workshop takes place on March 22nd and 23rd at the International Academic Forum in Heidelberg. We will start with lunch on March 22, and end with lunch on March 23. Accommodation will be available at the International Academic Forum. If you are interested in participating, please send a short note about yourself to geodyn+mentoring(at)mathi.uni-heidelberg.de by March 6, 2022. Please also briefly explain why you are interested in the mentoring training.

We expect to have between 12 and 15 spots for participants and will cover local costs for all participants. Support for travel costs can be requested.