Home
The Alfred Wegener Institute is committed to providing equal treatment and opportunities to all its employees as well as to job applicants.
Equal treatment of all our staff members as well as job candidates is required by German law: The General Act on Equal Treatment (“Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz”) sets clear standards and demands from AWI as an employer to prevent
Employees or applicants who feel that their rights under the General Act on Equal Treatment have been violated may approach the AWI Board of Appeal. For more information have a look here.
Beyond the legal duty of preventing discrimination and harassment, we are working hard on providing actual equal opportunities to all our staff members. It is our belief that the provision of equal opportunities is both valuable in itself and as a means to excel in our core business – performing outstanding research. The success of a research institute depends on its people. Attracting the best and most suitable scientists, engineers, technicians and managers to AWI and giving them the best possible environment to thrive during their time at our institute is essential for us. And for that to happen, personnel selection and personnel development should focus on knowledge, expertise and skills, without regard to gender, ethnicity, age and so on.
We know that as simple as it sounds, the reality is complex and needs steady commitment. In the end, the provision of equal opportunities and equal treatment should not only be incorporated in regulations, but should be an integral part of our organisational culture.
AWI has a variety of units promoting all aspects of equal opportunities (see contact data on the right side or linked):
Gender equality has been a focus of discussion and action at AWI for many years, with a number of targets, quotas and measures being developed and implemented. In particular, our “Agreement on targets for the promotion of equal opportunities” establishes some of these aims and this document is reviewed every four years as an ongoing process. In 2017, this work was reinforced by an externally moderated discussion that focussed on current end emerging issues and contributed fresh ideas for the further development of our gender strategy.
Human Resources Department