Female Leadership in Science, Business and Society
The Falling Walls Foundation and the Bayer Foundation invited to a mutual networking event in July 2021. The Female Science Talents Gathering offered all participants discussion formats that allow insightful connections with outstanding female leaders and scientists.
We were happy to welcome Helga Nowotny, Professor emerita at ETH Zürich and former president of the European Research Council for our role model talk, which was also streamed live on YouTube. One of the most experienced and well-respected female leaders, Helga provided an in-depth look into the pitfalls of female leadership – and was also able to share helpful insights on how to overcome them.
During the 30 minute talk with German journalist Louisa Reichstetter, followed by another 30 minutes of Q&A with our talents, Helga shared many fascinating details from a careers that spans almost 60 years. She talked about how she moved to New York with her partner back in the 1960s, and how she co-founded the European Research Council in 2007: “I convinced my colleagues to set up a working group to define that research has to be fundamentally inclusive”, she recalls. Helga also shared her thoughts on masculinity in science, on female leadership and family and what kept her going for more than half a century (“curiosity, persistence, passion”).