6th Online Network Meeting
Our network is growing: after two and a half years of Infect-Net, we have over 200 female infection researchers. To keep everyone up to date, we meet online twice a year in addition to our on-site network meetings. Last Friday we held our 6th online meeting, which was attended by 56 participants from all over Germany. A good opportunity to take stock:
Getting together: Network meetings in presence and online
Since October 2022, we have organised five network meetings at various locations in Germany. So far we have come together in Aachen, Hamburg, Wernigerode, Cologne and Munich. A sixth and last meeting is coming up on 24 September in Jena.
At these meetings, we were able to get to know new colleagues, connect with each other and present our research. We also promoted joint campaigns and the direction of the association. In addition to specialist presentations from the network, we also had a number of exciting guest speakers in the programme, including: Katharina Fegebank, Korinna Hennig, Prof Dr Lars Schaade, Prof Dr Blanche Schwappach-Pignataro, Prof Dr Carmen Scheibenbogen and Prof Dr Alena Buyx.
Five of the six planned network meetings have already taken place: Aachen, Hamburg, Wernigerode, Cologne and Munich. The sixth and final meeting within the project funding programme will take place on 24 September in Jena.
These meetings also included a range of workshops on media training and networking, which we organised together with city2science GmbH, Henning Quanz and Medientraining für Wissenschaftler*innen GbR. organisiert hatten.
A common challenge for all of us is to find enough time for meetings and conferences in addition to research, teaching, clinical work, administration and family. In order to still give as many of us as possible the opportunity to help shape the association, we have also organised alternating online network meetings like the one last Friday.
Lecture series
A key element in gaining more visibility in the scientific community is still the traditional specialised lectures. For this reason, we use travel funds to promote networking so that female scientists can visit each other and provide detailed information about their research. This gives women the right stage to showcase their expertise and opens up avenues for new collaborations and further innovative research. So far, we have been able to support 26 of these lectures.
Homepage
We are very happy to be online with this beautiful homepage since December 2023. It enables us to make many women from infection research and ourselves as a network more visible and to offer them as contacts. work in progress Stay tuned, since we still have a few things in store for you here.
Social Media
If you want to be visible today and conduct public outreach, there is no getting around social media. They also offer access to target groups that are difficult to reach via traditional science communication channels. For Infect-Net, we launched channels on Facebook, X (then still Twitter), LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Bluesky.
In the meantime, we have closed our Facebook and X accounts and are focussing on
In campaigns such as takeovers, short interviews, advent calendars, video interviews and portraits of female scientists, we introduce female infection researchers and provide information about their research and achievements.
Policy Engagements
Policy advice and the representation of interests towards decision-makers are essential, especially when it comes to health and scientific issues, as although they affect us as a society as a whole, they are often only fully understood by a few specialists.
Translating the latest research findings and complex scientific topics into generally understandable arguments is therefore a key aspect of our science communication.
Over the past 32 months, we have campaigned in favour of appointments to the Central Commission for Biological Safety (ZKBS), against an EU-wide ban on animal testing, for revisions to the amendments to the WissZeitVG and the Animal Welfare Act, for the #ProfsfürHanna campaign and in the election of the DFG Review Board and the filling of a DFG Senate seat.
Networking
It is not only the networking of our infection researchers with each other that is important to us, but also the exchange with like-minded organisations and media. Over time, we have been able to realise collaborations and joint campaigns with the most important scientific research institutions (RKI, BNITM, HZI, DZIF, etc.), some media houses and initiatives.
and much more ...
The highlight of Infect-Net so far was the Foundation of the association ‘Verband Deutscher Infektionsforscherinnen’ on 25 March 2025 in Munich. We will use the experience we have gained so far with Infect-Net to increase the visibility of women in infection research, improve their networking with each other and promote dialogue with politics and society.
René Lesnik | Coordination Infect-Net
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