Kiel's Christian-Albrechts-Universität (CAU) has awarded EmpowerMINT prizes for outstanding theses by female students and graduates in mathematics, science, engineering and technology (STEM) subjects. In this area in particular, the proportion of women is often far below 50%. The award and the prize money of 500 euros for a Bachelor's thesis and 750 euros for a Master's thesis are intended to create an incentive to continue an academic career.
In addition to individual recognition, the awarding of the six prizes is intended to increase the visibility of female STEM students. Professor Catherine Cleophas, CAU Vice President for Digital Transformation, Gender Equality and Diversity, encouraged the award winners to pursue their careers at the university. Lucie Bangert was honored for her bachelor thesis "Thermomechanic and thermo-optical dependencies of flexible photonic crystal slabs".
Other awards went to Karin Hansen for her Bachelor's thesis "Characterization of Plasmas in Aeromaterials", Maria Hergert for her Master's thesis "Dual-Ligand Enabled Nondirected C-H", Annika Huch for her Master's thesis "Nyldon Words and their Variants", Jule Kuhn for her Master's thesis "Automated High Pressure Setup for Hydrogenative PHIP Relayed via Proton Exchange" and Hannah Völkel for her Bachelor's thesis "Diffusive behavior of various elements in olivine in crystal mushes: an experimental study to unravel pre-eruptive conditions".
