First Grete-Hermann-Network meeting

Summary

On 14th July, the first event of the Grete Hermann Network takes place. The first international network of female scientists in the field of condensed matter physics was initiated by the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat – Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter.
 
They come from Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA and share the same professional passion – condensed matter physics. There are more than 20 women, all of them are early-career researchers or experienced professors who explore and design quantum materials with unusual electrical, magnetic, or optical properties. Whether cold computer chips, quantum sensors, or quantum computers – the future information and medical technology of the 21st century is inconceivable without these materials. The Grete Hermann Network (GHN) is the first international network for female researchers in the field of condensed matter physics with a focus on quantum materials.
 
“With this network, we would like to support female scientists at all career levels. Our goals include network building, development of joint research projects, mentoring and providing support for pursuing an academic career. An important aspect is also to increase the visibility of the participating female researchers in view of future appointments to professorships. I am very much looking forward to the first network meeting,” states Prof Johanna Erdmenger, Professor of Physics at the University of Würzburg and responsible for the GHN.
 
The GHN is an initiative of the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat – Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter of the University of Würzburg and TU Dresden that has been funded since 2019 as part of the German Excellence Strategy. Grete Hermann (1901 – 1984), after whom the Network is named, was a German mathematician, physicist, philosopher and educator who helped shape modern quantum physics. As early as in the 1930s, she anticipated an important result about the structure of quantum mechanics which only became established in the 1960s.
 
The virtual network meeting on 14th July addresses early career female researchers (e.g. doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, junior professors, research group leaders) and experienced female professors in the field of condensed matter physics and related research areas.

Image: © Otto Lohrisch-Achilles / Universität Bremen