About us
Women in Biology (WoBio) is a network of women scientists, committed to understanding and reducing gender inequality in academia, first and foremost within the walls of our own Faculty of Life Sciences. We offer professional and personal support to women academics by liaising with the Dean’s Office and offering workshops, role model seminars for students and early-career researchers, peer-mentoring, and promotion of WoBio members‘ accomplishments on our website and social media. WoBio also manages the Family Room at the UBB, which offers a space for parents and their children to play, sleep, breastfeed, change nappies etc.
WoBio’s agenda sits within a larger framework of Equality (or Equity), Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and we are committed to promoting equality and inclusion for other marginalized groups.
Who is WoBio for?
We are an initiative of (predominantly) women working at the University of Vienna in disciplines related to biology, based at the Faculty of Life Sciences.
Our group is open to postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers, group leaders and professors at any career stage.
How can I join?
We communicate mainly through our WoBio mailing list and regular group meetings (hybrid).
If you’re interested in following our activities and updates or want to get involved, please subscribe to our list: https://lists.univie.ac.at/mailman/listinfo/wobio or
stop by at our WoBio Intro Meetings!
How are we organised?
We are a horizontal organisation, in which every single person has equal rights to participate.
Besides a core of three board members and a treasurer, we have two permanent workgroups (Media & Communication, Female Role Model Seminar).
Depending of the availability of WoBio members, other permanent workgroups (Family room...) or temporary workgroups (International Women's Day...) can be created. Any member can contribute to existing workgroups or propose a new group!
More information about our structure and the workgroups is available on this page.
Why WoBio?
In 2015, the University of Vienna celebrated its 650th anniversary. We women in biology took this occasion to evaluate our current situation. The alarming data then led to the founding of the initiative.
Women clearly dominate as biology students, with a proportion of 61% for prae-doctoral levels. Employment of women, however, dramatically decreases from postdoc to professor levels. In 2021, among the professors at our faculty, only 29% were women.
Proportion of women and men at different career stages in biology and other life sciences at the University of Vienna in 2021.
Data from Gender im Fokus 7 - Die Triangulation des Erfolgs: Publikationen, Drittmittel und Mobilität an der Universität Wien, Wien, Oktober 2021.