The Berlin Program to Promote Equal Opportunities for Women in Research and Teaching (Berlin Equal Opportunities Program – BCP)

The Berlin Equal Opportunities Program (BCP), running since 2001 and managed by Humboldt University on behalf of the Berlin Senate, funds temporary, junior and guest professorships, PhD and postdoc positions, innovative projects and mentoring at 14 higher-education institutions, with annual funding of up to €3.8 million, to reduce structural barriers for women in research and teaching.

The programme aims to promote the professional qualification and career consolidation of women scientists and artists by reducing structural barriers, to sustainably improve the representation of women at all scientific qualification levels and in leadership positions, and to anchor gender aspects in research and teaching.

Funding instruments include the BCP-funded Clinician-Scientist Programme, which gives physicians protected research time and leadership training, a pool of part-time and full 3-year qualification positions concentrated in MINT disciplines and gender studies, and advanced professorial successor appointments (vorgezogene Nachfolgeberufung, VNB) that let an outstanding female researcher be appointed before an incumbent professor leaves.

By 2017 the programme had supported over 1,200 people and projects. The proportion of female professors at Berlin universities reached about 32%, and 46% among new appointments (2020); female doctoral candidates were just under 50% at the end of 2019, and Berlin has held the top position in German gender-equality rankings since 2005. Gender-equality concepts are now required in every higher-education funding application.

The programme has run for 23 years with funding increases tied to its success and co-financing from participating universities, and is credited with keeping highly qualified women in the higher-education sector rather than losing them at the doctoral-to-postdoc transition. The programme manager role is described as fundamental to its success, coordinating funding decisions, budget and reporting across institutions.