Members from all staff categories within the faculty work together in the task force, developing targeted measures to promote equality and overseeing their implementation. These include, amongst other things, an interactive Moodle self-study course designed to encourage an in-depth and multifaceted examination of one’s own preconceptions, as well as the already established activities surrounding the nationwide Girls’ Day.

In its recommendation for the award, the Equality Commission particularly commends the project’s holistic approach. The diverse, coordinated measures, together with close collaboration within the faculty, contribute to embedding equality in the long term. The fact that the task force is open to all faculty members also promotes broad participation and high acceptance of the measures developed.

Prize money to be channelled into university-wide learning programmes

The project team intends to use the prize money of 5,000 euros to make its programmes accessible to an even wider audience. The faculty’s own Moodle course on gender and equality is to be expanded, translated into English and made available to the entire university.

The award was presented by members of the rectorate during the Senate meeting on 15 July 2026. The following members of the task force were honoured: Charlotte Reinhardt, M.A., Dipl.-Ing. Benjamin Dymel, Marcel Freimuth, M.Ed., Prof. Dr.-Ing. Nicola Fricke, Kirsten Jacobi, M.A., Dr.-Ing. Matthias Kaul, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dominik May, Dr.-Ing. Nadine Schlüter, Prof. Dr. Antoine Tordeux and Henrike Wittkowski. For the first time, they presented the newly designed award: a handprint created using the tufting technique, which was developed by student Lena Jantz as part of a semester project at the school of art and design.

Equality website of the school of mechanical engineering and safety engineering