Stifterverband certifies Helmholtz Centre Berlin for strategies in dealing with diversity
HZB is the first non-university research institution to be awarded the " Vielfalt gestalten " ("Shaping Diversity") certificate by the Stifterverband.
(from left to right: Volker Meyer-Guckel, Deputy Secretary General of the Stifterverband, Jennifer Schevardo, HZB Project Manager Diversity Audit, Jan Lüning, scientific director at HZB). © HZB
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) is the first non-university research institution to have undergone the Stifterverband's diversity audit "Vielfalt gestalten". The certification attests to the HZB's opportunity-oriented concepts and measures for diverse groups of people.
Regardless of whether employees come from abroad, have a migration background or work part-time, regardless of their age, gender or ideology - all employees should be able to participate equally in everyday work with their abilities. To ensure this, the HZB went through an 18-month process. In the process, the existing concepts to promote diversity were expanded and corresponding measures were implemented. These concern both organisational structures and personnel management. Services for employees and diversity-sensitive communication are also part of the diversity strategy.
"The Diversity Audit has given us important impetus and pushed forward issues that we have been dealing with as an organisation for a long time," says Thomas Frederking, Commercial Director of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. "We have updated our Code of Conduct, organised selection and recruitment processes in a more diversity-sensitive way and are currently revising the processes for conflict management. We have also taken a close look at our work and leadership culture and will establish corresponding guidelines. Many HZB employees contributed ideas during the diversity audit, which we are particularly pleased about."
"We are very glad that the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin is the first non-university research institution to receive the Stifterverband certificate 'Shaping Diversity'. After all, dealing with diversity remains one of the major development tasks in the entire scientific landscape," explains Volker Meyer-Guckel, Deputy Secretary General of the Stifterverband. "More and more institutions are realising that a diversity-friendly culture strengthens employee satisfaction and performance. The innovative power of an institution can be increased through different perspectives and experiences of all employees."
Since 2013, the Stifterverband has offered the diversity audit "Shaping Diversity" to universities as a service. Since then, more than 50 universities have successfully participated. Originally developed for universities, the audit was piloted for non-university research institutions in cooperation with the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin.
- BESSY II: Phosphorous chains – a 1D material with 1D electronic propertiesFor the first time, a team at BESSY II has succeeded in demonstrating the one-dimensional electronic properties of a material through a highly refined experimental process. The samples consisted of short chains of phosphorus atoms that self-organise at specific angles on a silver substrate. Through sophisticated analysis, the team was able to disentangle the contributions of these differently aligned chains. This revealed that the electronic properties of each chain are indeed one-dimensional. Calculations predict an exciting phase transition to be expected as soon as these chains are more closely packed. While material consisting of individual chains with longer distances is semiconducting, a very dense chain structure would be metallic.
- Did marine life in the palaeocene use a compass?Some ancient marine organisms produced mysterious magnetic particles of unusually large size, which can now be found as fossils in marine sediments. An international team has succeeded in mapping the magnetic domains on one of such ‘giant magnetofossils’ using a sophisticated method at the Diamond X-ray source. Their analysis shows that these particles could have allowed these organisms to sense tiny variations in both the direction and intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field, enabling them to geolocate themselves and navigate across the ocean. The method offers a powerful tool for magnetically testing whether putative biological iron oxide particles in Mars samples have a biogenic origin.
- What vibrating molecules might reveal about cell biologyInfrared vibrational spectroscopy at BESSY II can be used to create high-resolution maps of molecules inside live cells and cell organelles in native aqueous environment, according to a new study by a team from HZB and Humboldt University in Berlin. Nano-IR spectroscopy with s-SNOM at the IRIS beamline is now suitable for examining tiny biological samples in liquid medium in the nanometre range and generating infrared images of molecular vibrations with nanometre resolution. It is even possible to obtain 3D information. To test the method, the team grew fibroblasts on a highly transparent SiC membrane and examined them in vivo. This method will provide new insights into cell biology.