The United Nations state that "In order to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls, and further achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, the United Nations General Assembly declared 11 February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science in 2015". In addition to the empowerment of women and girls, it is also essential for science itself to draw excellent researchers from all sectors of society. Prof. Havenith, spokeswoman of the Cluster of Excellence RESOLV, once said: "We want to attract excellent minds to science and for that we have to draw from the full pot of possibilities. Excluding women from this reduces our chances of finding the best of the best.”
RESOLVs Day of Women in Science Event was open to all genders to allow a free disscussion with as many views as possible and to ensure the visibility of still existing problems of females in science. The Event started with some coffee and snacks and warm words of welcome from Prof. Clara Saraceno, Speaker of RESOLVs Gender, Equality and Diversity Board, followed by a video message from Prof. Dr. Isolde Karle, Vice Rector for Diversity, Inclusion and Talent Development from Ruhr – Universität Bochum. Three stimulating talks from women in science and industry about their experiences as women in leading positions were held. After a coffee break, all participants gathered for a networking hands-on session. In a kind of "speed dating" situation, they could learn how to establish cooperations with effective and concise vocabulary. Prof. Saraceno opened the session with the words: "Imagine that you are at a conference and you want to introduce yourself to other scientists.” A Situation often described as very difficult from women. By practicing with as many other people as possible, the participants were able to gain valuable experience to use in the real world. At the end, a lively panel discussion was held, which not only focused on the problems of women in science, but also highlighted problems of other marginalized groups through the stimulated discussion.
All participants received a practical notebook as a gift. RESOLV created the "Notebook for solving all problems" to increase the visibility of female researchers. It contains portraits of the female scientists in RESOLV every few pages. With personal texts, the user can get to know the life of female scientists and appreciateing all the female rolemodels in science.
