“As a female scientist, you have to work harder”
Dr. Kathrin Saar is ready to make a difference. “I’m highly motivated because I know how crucial it is to ensure equal treatment during hiring processes, for example,” the new Equal Opportunities Officer says. She was elected on June 30, 2025.
Kathrin Saar
Saar joined the Max Delbrück Center for some experiments as a doctoral student in the mid-1990s. After brief stints at other institutions, she returned in the early 2000s to work in the Genetics and Genomics of Cardiovascular Diseases research group. A few years later, she moved into science management, most recently serving as scientific coordinator at the Helmholtz Institute for Translational AngioCardioScience (HI-TAC). Having spent many years at the Max Delbrück Center, Saar knows both the institution and its people well – and she’s familiar with the working conditions women face in research and administration. “As a woman in science, you're less visible. Sometimes you have to fight harder, and you have to achieve more compared to men,” she says.
Why do women leave science?
“Women must have the same career opportunities as men,” she says. Too often, women don’t apply for awards or leadership roles. Through conversations with early-career female researchers, Saar wants to better understand why so many women turn their backs on science after their postdoc phase – and what is needed to support them.
One of her top priorities? “Having a say in hiring decisions,” Saar says. This includes enforcing the targets set by the cascade model at the center – gender quotas for hiring into pay grades 13 to 15. “Everyone involved in recruitment needs to be made aware of this. It is essential that we are involved in this and other important processes at an early stage,” Kathrin Saar emphasizes.
She also intends to factor in the ideas of all her colleagues who ran for the position of equal opportunities officer and to discuss with them which projects or events can be planned and implemented together. “It is important to me to incorporate these different perspectives because, as a women's representative, I want to keep an eye on all women at our center, not just the female scientists,” says Kathrin Saar.
She is supported by her deputy, Aileen Cunningham, who is serving in this role for the third consecutive term. “I’m glad I can draw on her experience,” Kathrin Saar says. Aileen Cunningham has been engaged in promoting equality at the Max Delbrück Center in various capacities over the years. She served on the Staff Council for more than a decade, was Deputy Equal Opportunities Officer at the same time, and has also been active as Deputy Representative for severely disabled persons in the “Care” project group. The Office Manager of HI-TAC has a severely disabled child for whom she cares. She was a single parent for a long time. “That's why I know how important it is to get help and to have a network,” says Cunningham.
Building networks – internal and external
Creating networks is also central to Saar’s plans. “I want to connect with all key players at our institute for whom gender equality issues are relevant – committees, the HR department, partner institutes like the Berlin Institute of Health, and of course The Helmholtz Working Group Women in Research Centers,” she says.
She and Cunningham also plan to raise visibility through events that highlight issues that affect every woman but are often overlooked in the workplace. “Our last women’s assembly showed that colleagues are interested in these kinds of topics,” says Cunningham. Among other things, a new initiative starting in October will create greater visibility and accessibility: “We want to be approachable at all times. This includes informal meetings at the MDCafé every second Monday of the month starting at 2 p.m. Anyone who wants to can just sit down with me; everyone is welcome,” says Kathrin Saar. There will also soon be scheduled days when she will be on site at the MDC-BIMSB.
Gender equality is also about science itself. “Gender-sensitive research requires a different scientific approach. There is increasing awareness of this in society at large,” Saar says. Symptoms of a heart attack, for example, can present differently in women; and medications may affect women and men differently. Funders have also taken notice. “We all need to be more aware of this—of the wide variety of questions,” she says. “After all, personalized medicine that also takes into account the biological differences between the sexes is a key goal of the Max Delbrück Center.”
Text: Wiebke Peters
