Mathilde-von-Mevissen Funding

Fellowships awarded (Image: TH Köln/Michael Bause)

Promotion of doctoral positions for women

For TH Köln, actively promoting equal opportunities for women and men is an integral part of sustainable university development. By supporting female researchers in the early stages of their careers, the Mathilde von Mevissen Ph.D. Program aims, in the long term, to pave the way for gender parity in the appointment of professorships.

In the new funding cycle, eight outstanding female doctoral researchers from six faculties will receive support through co-financing of doctoral positions. Funding is provided through the partial financing of a TV-L E 13 position as a research associate. Co-financing is provided in equal parts by the applicant professor at the faculties.

In previous funding rounds of the Mathilde von Mevissen Ph.D. Program, 12 female Ph.D. candidates have been supported to date; three of them have since been appointed to professorships.

The official launch of the current funding round began with a fellowship award ceremony on October 16, 2026.

Fellowship recipients are:

• Rezvaneh Aliyari
• Hannah Am Ende
• Bianca Griech
• Janine Hein 
• Lea-Marie Mecking 
• Natasha Randall 
• Hannah Reichart
• Theresa Wobbe 
  
   

Doctoral researchers who have previously received Mathilde von Mevissen funding:

• Prof. Dr. Christine Kleffner
• Prof. Dr. Melanie Verena Werner
• Prof. Dr. Isabelle Dembach
• Katharina Tillmanns
• Margarita Alejandra Rebolledo Coy
• Dr. Judith Rösgen
• Dr. Marlen Börngen
• Sowmya Chandrasekaran
• Prof. Dr. Eva-Maria Grommes
• Leonie Kallabis
• Niloofar Raeyatdoost
• Dr. Juliane Ressel

Mathilde von Mevissen-Figur am Kölner Rathausturm (Image: Raimond Spekking, wikimedia commons)

Who was Mathilde von Mevissen?

Mathilde von Mevissen (1848-1924) from Cologne was one of the most influential women's rights activists of the 19th and 20th centuries with her initiatives to improve educational opportunities for girls and women. In her tireless struggle to get women admitted to universities, she came to believe that women can only get an academic education if they meet the same educational requirements as men. To improve girls 'education in Cologne, she founded, with the support of friends and acquaintances, the association "Mädchengymnasium Köln", with the help of which she established a humanistic girls' high school. After the Prussian reform of the girls' school system in 1908, the school became a full-fledged girls' high school and was taken over from the city of Cologne. In 1909, the association "Mädchengymnasium Köln" was transferred to the "Verein Frauenstudium" and from now on devoted itself to the financial support of female students. Mathilde von Mevissen insisted on admitting up to three female students herself and supporting all female students as a mentor in coping with their everyday university life.