Women shaping science: Perspectives from Berlin's research landscape on International Women's Day

©SPB_Pedro Bacerra (Monika Staesche); © Charlot van Heeswijk (Dorothea Winter); © GSCN / Arne Sattler  (Sina Bartfeld); © Prof. Dr. Petra Mund

03.03.2026
Women shaping science: Perspectives from Berlin's research landscape on International Women's Day

Brain City Berlin

Berlin is a city of women - according to the State Conference of Women's and Equality Officers at Berlin's Universities (LakoF), Berlin's higher education institutions have held the top position in national comparisons of equality indicators for 20 years. With a women's share of professorships at just over 37 per cent, a strong profile in gender research, intersectional perspectives, family-friendly policies, and anti-discrimination and protection frameworks, the city's higher education landscape stands out. On International Women's Day 2026, we speak with Berlin-based researchers and our Brain City Berlin ambassadors about their perspectives on Berlin as a research location: why they work here, how the capital's networks shape their careers, and what it would take to make Berlin even stronger.

Why did you choose Berlin?

"In Berlin, I often get the message: 'You belong here', and that is enormously empowering," says Brain City Berlin Ambassador Prof. Dr Sina Bartfeld. She leads the Medical Biotechnology department at Technische Universität Berlin. "What excites me about Berlin is the momentum: in human models, alternatives to animal testing, and stem cell biology, a great deal is happening right now. I feel that a genuine momentum is building here - with space for new ideas that can develop international reach."

For Prof. Dr Anabel Ternès von Hattburg, the decision to come to Brain City Berlin was shaped by both professional and personal considerations: "Berlin embodies for me the spirit of an open knowledge society, where science is not only produced but lived. As a futurist and psychologist, I am particularly fascinated by the interplay of technology, social sciences, and societal transformation. Berlin is one of the few places in Europe where interdisciplinary research is not only possible but culturally taken for granted."

For philosopher and author Dr Dorothea Winter, the choice was equally clear - anyone researching AI, she says, can hardly look past Berlin: "Berlin is not only the federal capital but also the AI capital, with a dense AI ecosystem: a huge number of AI start-ups, strong research institutions, NGOs, and AI experts from all manner of disciplines and fields."

Lia Carlucci is won over by Berlin's commitment to thinking beyond the ivory tower. With Food Campus Berlin, she is building an ecosystem in which nutritional research, biotechnology, AI, and robotics work in concert. For her, what is decisive is a particular quality of the city: "not merely image, but genuine collaboration."

Dr Monika Staesche, Deputy Chair of the Stiftung Planetarium Berlin, sees Berlin as a special city when it comes to science and science communication: "When I began to take an interest in astronomy — in the early 1980s - it was still rather unusual for a girl. Thankfully, a great deal has changed since then. The Planetarium am Insulaner, and later the Stiftung Planetarium Berlin, gives me, as Deputy Chair and Director of the Planetarium am Insulaner, the opportunity not only to share my enthusiasm for the night sky, but also to offer other women a platform to present their research. We can network and exchange ideas with one another, and I think that is wonderful."

How does Berlin support female researchers?

Anabel Ternès values Berlin's strong network of research institutions, with its wide variety of exchange formats and high public visibility, in which women are increasingly seen as active contributors. At the same time, she believes that structural work remains necessary, particularly with regard to leadership positions. A defining experience for her within Brain City Berlin has been learning that scientific excellence is built over the long term through integrity, originality, and perseverance - not through short-term recognition.

Dorothea Winter experiences Berlin as less hierarchical: "In Berlin, what matters more is what is being said, rather than who is saying it." She quickly found opportunities in the city to speak on panels, give interviews, and write articles, "because Berlin is less set in its ways than other German cities." These invitations, along with the response from teaching and practice, show her that her work is being noticed.

For Lia Carlucci, Berlin is both an experimental field and a space for resonance. The proximity of universities, start-ups, investors, and policymakers enables rapid iteration: "A conversation in the morning can lead to an exchange with an industry partner the same afternoon." She also contributes to building mutual support in Berlin, having co-founded Women in Climate Tech - a non-commercial community for female founders and investors in the climate tech sector.

Prof. Dr Petra Mund of the Catholic University of Applied Sciences for Social Work Berlin (Katholische Hochschule für Sozialwesen Berlin) experiences Brain City Berlin as a dynamic and diverse research and working environment for (aspiring) academics in the SAGE professions: "The city offers excellent opportunities for specialist and interdisciplinary networking, particularly through the possibility of close collaboration with social organisations and civil society initiatives."

Does the city itself play a role in your research?

"Yes, very much so," says Anabel Ternès. For her, Berlin is a "psychological resonance space for change." The city's history of rupture and transformation supports research into change, resilience, and questions of the future. "Berlin is a living laboratory for the future," says the futurist. For her, the combination of digital innovation, cultural studies, medicine, psychology, and social transformation is essential. "The city does not force research into silos. It encourages thinking in terms of systemic interconnections." The scientific infrastructure of Berlin's networks also supports her research, particularly in terms of global contextualisation and interdisciplinary dialogue. "Academic careers today are no longer built solely through individual achievement, but through collective spaces of knowledge."

Monika Staesche is likewise inspired by Berlin's unique urban history, which is reflected, for example, in its planetariums: the Zeiss-Großplanetarium in Prenzlauer Berg and the Planetarium am Insulaner today form the Stiftung Planetarium Berlin together with the Archenhold Observatory: a fitting symbol of genuine collaboration in Brain City Berlin.

Dorothea Winter experiences Berlin as a laboratory for AI ethics: from administrative applications to medical projects. As an example, she cites BärGPT for Berlin's public administration, an AI tool developed by the Senate Chancellery to support routine tasks. In the field of mobility, too, Berlin serves as a real-world testing ground, with projects such as KIS'M in TXL, an initiative exploring driverless, demand-responsive public transport. "These are all core questions of ethics," she says of projects that touch on issues such as distribution, transparency, accountability, and access to knowledge - and which she can discuss with students directly on the ground. The low-threshold access to exchange formats is also crucial for her when it comes to networking and working in Berlin.

"In my role as Vice-President for Studies and Teaching, it is a central concern of mine to encourage women* in particular to pursue an academic career in the SAGE professions, and to support them in making a successful start in academia. In this context, I greatly value the Berlin Programme for Promoting Equal Opportunities for Women in Research and Teaching (Berliner ChancenGleichheitsProgramm, BCP), as it makes an important contribution to fair, inclusive, and forward-looking conditions within the academic system," says Petra Mund on Berlin's networks.

How can Berlin grow even stronger?

Anabel Ternès wishes for systematic support of leading female researchers and female academic leadership in Brain City, as well as closer links between futures research, technology ethics, medical innovation, and societal implementation. In her view, Berlin should present itself as the capital of humanistic progress - as a place where science generates not only innovation, but also meaning, responsibility, and societal stability. "My wish for Berlin is that the city becomes a global centre for human-centred futures research."

Dorothea Winter advocates for greater self-confidence: "Berlin's strength lies not in imitation, but in the combination of excellent research, cultural diversity, public debate, and applied innovation." She hopes that Brain City Berlin will bring together these existing elements to become something that other locations currently are not: a place for innovation that is rapid, yet also publicly relevant, reflective, and democratic. "We are not just poor but sexy. We are AI, but ethical."

Lia Carlucci would welcome greater visibility in public spaces, for instance, through portraits of researchers displayed in public locations: "People connect with faces and stories." This could create identification and inspiration for the next generation.

Six Women, Six Profiles

Prof. Dr Anabel Ternès von Hattburg is a futurist and psychologist, and Managing Director of the Institute for Sustainable Management at SRH Hochschule Berlin.

Dr Dorothea Winter is a philosopher and author. She completed her doctorate in 2025 at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin on "Intentionality and Artificial Intelligence," and today researches Applied Ethics and Digital Humanism at the Humanistische Hochschule Berlin.

Lia Carlucci is Co-Managing Director of Food Campus Berlin, working at the intersection of science, business, and policy to shape the future of sustainable nutrition.

Prof. Dr Sina Bartfeld leads the Medical Biotechnology department at Technische Universität Berlin and is Co-Speaker of the research centre "The Simulated Human."

Dr Monika Staesche is Deputy Chair of the Stiftung Planetarium Berlin and Director of the Planetarium am Insulaner and Wilhelm-Foerster-Sternwarte.

Prof. Dr Petra Mund of the Catholic University of Applied Sciences for Social Work Berlin is Professor of Social Work Science and Social Management, with a specialism in child and youth welfare. Before her doctorate, the Brain City Berlin Ambassador worked as a street outreach worker.

On International Women's Day, their perspectives show clearly: Brain City Berlin is a place where female researchers shape agendas, build networks, and help define the future. LakoF agrees: "The structural embedding of equal opportunities is a distinctive hallmark of Berlin as a centre of science."

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