Honorary President of EPWS, Former Managing Director of the Center of Excellence Women and Science CEWS, Bonn (Germany)
Brigitte Mühlenbruch was the first Vice President of the European Platform of Women Scientists EPWS in Brussels. She is a member of the European Commission’s Network of Women in Decision Making in Politics and the Economy, and Vice President of the Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard-Foundation in Germany.
After finishing her PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Brigitte Mühlenbruch worked as a scientist at the University of Bonn for almost 20 years before becoming the University’s first Equal Opportunities Commissioner. Since the late 1980’s her research and concept development have focused on gender equality, gender mainstreaming, and programmes and processes regarding the recruitment and retention of female scientists in Germany as well as at the EU level.
In 2003, Brigitte Mühlenbruch was a member of the Steering Committee for the Study on Networks of Women Scientists in Brussels which confirmed the need of a network for women scientists at European level. Brigitte Mühlenbruch was Managing Director of the Center of Excellence Women and Science CEWS in Bonn from 2000 until 2005, managing several research projects funded by the German government and the EU in the field of gender equality in science. Under her leadership, CEWS drafted the winning proposal for the establishment of the European Platform of Women Scientists EPWS in Brussels and signed the contract with the European Commission in 2005.