Our values

The aim of universities is to gain insights into the laws of nature and develop scientific solutions to improve the overall quality of life. A diverse research environment offers the opportunity to tackle problems from a wide range of perspectives, which supplies enhanced benefits, and accelerates scientific progress. To achieve this goal, universities need to offer equal opportunities and mitigate discrimination against specific groups based on their beliefs, race, sex, gender, socioeconomic background, disabilities of any kind, or political views. Furthermore, faculty members need to display a united front against inequality by increasing the visibility of historically underrepresented groups in STEM fields.

The visibility of gender diversity is a vital asset to give students a sense of belonging. Recent developments like the significantly increase in chemistry related communication via LinkedIn or Twitter allowed members of the LGBTQIAPN+ community to connect and the visibility of this group has been growing ever since. Special issues in Inorganic Chemistry celebrating diversity by highlighting scientists from the LGBTQIAPN+ community are effective methods to also address a broader community which in the light of recent scandals about articles in journals like Angewandte Chemie appears to be as urgent as ever. Sexism and racism are hurdles that white academics can be unaware of or not being able to respond appropriately as demonstrated by recent events. However, since white men like me represent the majority of the academic staff we have to be especially active in challenging the status quo and to not leave underrepresented and marginalized groups fighting against windmills. Therefore, our research group aims to actively participates in events celebrating diversity as well as committing to the values of diversity, inclusivity and equity.