Pauline, you are taking part in the TALENTA program. What exactly is that?
»TALENTA is a support program specifically for women. Fraunhofer provides both material and personnel resources that can and should be used to develop one's own career.
The program is planned for 2 years. In my case, that means from June 2024 to May 2026. I have €2000 per month in personnel funds and €3000 per year in qualification funds at my free disposal. This means I have around 19 hours a month to look after my career.
This can be used, for example, to look for interesting advanced training courses that are not included in the normal budget for my department / business unit. I can use my qualification funds to pay for a selected training course and everything that goes with it, such as accommodation and transportation.
It is possible to 'save up' time and money to use the hours/days at a time, for example to spend several weeks or months on a (research) trip to another part of the world.«
How did you join the program?
»Shortly after I was hired, I spoke to my group leader and asked what opportunities I had at Fraunhofer IPMS to develop professionally. Unfortunately, my first application to TALENTA was rejected in November 2022. Although I have to say that I had only been working at Fraunhofer IPMS for a year at the time and didn't have a clear idea of how I wanted to use the program for myself.
But a year later, I tried again with an application for TALENTA Speed Up, this time with a completed doctorate and more concrete ideas about my future at Fraunhofer IPMS. This time I was actually accepted. I was accepted in May and have been on the program since June 2024.«
Why should women apply for the TALENTA program?
»The program gives you the time and freedom to further your education according to your own taste. It makes absolutely no difference whether the training you choose matches the tasks in your current job or is future-oriented. I can choose what I want. TALENTA also offers the opportunity to network throughout the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. It's a wonderful opportunity to look beyond your own institute and exchange ideas about how a career path works at other institutes and to be inspired by this.«
Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems
