{"id":40861,"date":"2026-05-07T13:22:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:22:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/?p=40861"},"modified":"2026-05-07T13:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:50:10","slug":"maternity-leave-and-re-entry-in-research-resist-supports-female-scientists-at-every-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/en\/maternity-leave-and-re-entry-in-research-resist-supports-female-scientists-at-every-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"Maternity Leave and Re-Entry in Research: RESIST Supports Female Scientists at Every Stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

With its \u201cMaternity Leave<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cRe-Entry<\/strong>\u201d programs, RESIST<\/strong> provides targeted support for female researchers striving to balance pregnancy, family life, and demanding scientific work. Two examples from dermatology and pediatric pulmonology illustrate how this support makes a tangible difference.<\/p>\n

Continuity in the Laboratory: Support for Dr. Rebecca Pospich<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. rer. nat. Rebecca Pospich conducts research at the Department of Dermatology, Allergy and Venereology under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Thomas Werfel and PD Dr. Lennart R\u00f6sner. Her scientific focus lies in the investigation of patient samples from atopic dermatitis and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Her work regularly involves bacterial pathogens such as staphylococci, the analysis of complex immune responses, and the use of radioactive and other hazardous substances in the laboratory.<\/p>\n

However, these activities are only possible to a limited extent during pregnancy. Work in biosafety level 2 (S2) laboratories as well as the handling of bacteria or radioactive substances is subject to the regulations of the German Maternity Protection Act. Consequently, she was temporarily unable to carry out certain experimental procedures herself.<\/p>\n

To ensure that her projects could continue without delay, she received support \u2014 in addition to the contributions of the laboratory\u2019s technical assistants Gabriele Begemann and Petra Kienlin \u2014 from her doctoral student Lara Weisel. Lara took over laboratory work involving hazardous substances and patient samples and subsequently continued the project as a student research assistant.<\/p>\n

This support was funded through the RESIST \u201cMaternity Leave\u201d and \u201cRe-Entry\u201d programs. As a result, experiments, sample analyses, and the recruitment of patients could continue seamlessly.<\/p>\n

A central component of her work is the collaboration with Dr. med. Aylin Sara Kabatas from the Skin Cancer Center. In the lymphoma outpatient clinic, potential study participants are informed about ongoing studies and samples are collected \u2014 here too, Lara Weisel provided essential support. In parallel, there is close cooperation with the Department of Microbiology under the direction of Prof. Dr. med. Dirk Schl\u00fcter. Patient samples can be forwarded directly there and analyzed on site by Kerstin Ellrot, Birgit Brenneke, and Christiane Reineke, while individual bacterial strains can be isolated and collected.<\/p>\n

For Dr. Rebecca Pospich, this support is crucial: during pregnancy, she was able to avoid potentially hazardous activities without her research being delayed, while also benefiting from favorable conditions for her later return to research.<\/p>\n

Time for Data and Publications: Re-Entry Support for PD Dr. Katarina Sch\u00fctz<\/strong><\/p>\n

PD Dr. med. Katharina Sch\u00fctz also benefits from this funding. She is a specialist in pediatrics with a focus on pediatric pulmonology and allergology. As a pediatric pulmonologist and allergist, she primarily treats children with rare and chronic lung diseases, many of whom she accompanies over many years into young adulthood.<\/p>\n

Since many of these diseases are still poorly understood, she closely combines clinical care and research. The aim is to gain a better understanding of disease mechanisms and to develop individualized therapies. As a Clinician Scientist, she works translationally, meaning that findings from research are directly transferred into patient care.<\/p>\n

She considers the greatest challenge to be balancing clinical duties, research, and family life. Alongside her intensive clinical work, she initiates new studies, recruits patients, and coordinates research projects organizationally. However, this often leaves very little time for the analysis of already collected data.<\/p>\n

As early as 2020, PD Dr. Sch\u00fctz was released from clinical duties for one year as part of her work within RESIST, funded by RESIST itself. Through this funding, she was later given the opportunity to participate in the Re-Entry program.<\/p>\n

As part of the program, she received support from student research assistants for one year. These assistants systematically prepare clinical data, consolidate information from different databases and software systems, and thereby create the basis for scientific publications. The students work on clearly defined, project-based tasks over several months and according to fixed deadlines. According to PD Dr. Sch\u00fctz, the model functions very conscientiously and reliably, even though each new assistant initially requires training. One particular advantage is that the assistants can work flexibly on a project basis, which is highly important for balancing clinical work, research, and family responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Flexible Support Across Different Stages of Life
\n<\/strong>
\nThe RESIST \u201cMaternity Leave<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cRe-Entry<\/strong>\u201d programs provide targeted support for female scientists involved in RESIST at different stages of their careers and family lives. While \u201cMaternity Leave\u201d is designed to support pregnant researchers during pregnancy, \u201cRe-Entry\u201d helps mothers return to research after parental leave. In both funding lines, researchers can choose to finance either technical assistance for laboratory work or student assistants for tasks such as data analysis or organizational support. This allows the support to be tailored individually to specific needs.
\nThe examples of Dr. Rebecca Pospich and PD Dr. Katarina Sch\u00fctz demonstrate how crucial this funding is: it ensures continuity in demanding research projects, safeguards scientific outcomes, and at the same time creates conditions that make family life and a scientific career compatible.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Click here for the RESIST newsletter<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":40863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40861"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40867,"href":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40861\/revisions\/40867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}