I, Scientist

I, Scientist is a conference which will be held from 12.- 14. May 2017 in Berlin.
The conference has three main topics: gender, career paths and networking.

Gender. The fact that even highly educated women have to face gender-based obstacles and prejudices in their careers is still widely ignored. Our goal is to raise awareness for this inequality among young people and discuss possible solutions. To achieve this, we want to offer a platform for successful women with a background in the natural sciences/mathematics and various careers to talk about their personal experiences. In this way, we hope to offer more female role models, which can inspire up-and-coming scientists. And even though women are facing gender-based problems more often - don't forget that also men have to deal with unconscious bias and barriers especially if it comes to combining a family with a career.

Career paths. To be able to make good decisions for oneself and one’s career, it is essential to be familiar with a wide range of possibilities. For this reason, we want to present different career options in research, industry and economics to young people with a scientific/mathematical background.

Networking. We want to create a new safe space for exchange and networking, discussions and conversations. Our participants shall have the opportunity to share their experiences among peers and get advice from already successful scientists.

Visit us on www.iscientist.de!
The conference will be held in English.

The main goal of this campaign is to make the first I, Scientist conference possible and thus inspire, empower and connect with young people. We want to create an event that encourages networking while offering high-quality content. The target group is young scientists and mathematicians who are about to start off their careers. This is a phase when they are confronted with a lot of questions and changes, so we want to offer a platform to help them orient themselves.
It is not the objective of the conference to find easy answers to all theoretical questions, but to spark ideas for individuals’ personal futures, exchange experiences and enable the participants to formulate ambitious new goals for their own careers and beyond.

The conference will be open for all genders, because:

• We are convinced that the topic of gender equality should be recognized and discussed by all groups of people to make a lasting impact.
• We think that unconscious bias can only be reduced when female role models in science are visible for everyone.

We believe it is time to create a format that approaches these topics in a way that is constructive on a personal level. This is why a pleasant, open and appreciative atmosphere during the conference is especially important to us.

Visit our website www.iscientist.de for more detailed information and the conference program!

Do you think that...
... gender equality is an important topic?
... we need greater dialogue on it?
... there is a persisting unconscious bias concerning women in science?
... successful women should be more visible and can be an inspiration as role models?

Then become a part of I, Scientist! Our project will deal with all these questions and aims to start a rewarding dialogue between all our participants. Only with your support will it be possible to set the stage for this dialogue. So, please help us to support a new generation of promising young scientists.

The whole organization process is based on volunteer work. We are committed to this project for various reasons (see our profiles!) but one thing connects all of us: the conviction that this is important and essential. It is completely non-profit, and aims to make a social impact.

Nevertheless, there are costs connected to the implementation of the conference.
We estimate a total cost of about € 40,000, part of which has already been raised by our partners (research institutes, companies). As a small independent association, we have almost no capital resources, which makes the process of securing funding a challenge.

So the next step is asking for your help. Our € 6,000 goal will pay the bills for the travel costs of three speakers, two workshops and childcare for three children. Since we think that the topic of our conference is something that affects our entire society, we would be especially happy to be funded by “the crowd” as a symbolical gesture.

You might ask: Why not let the participants pay for the conference? There is an easy answer to that: the conference is meant for students, so we wanted to keep the fees as low as possible to make it accessible for young people of all backgrounds. This means we depend on your support.