Supporting Equal Opportunity for Disabled Scientists

Podcast “Odyssey of a disabled scientist: From Greece to Germany for a PhD”

Moving from one lab to another is a normal part of scientific life, and mobility within Europe should be easy. So why was it so difficult for a disabled student to move from Greece to Germany to do her PhD?

In this interview, we hear from Alexandra Tzilivaki, a disabled doctoral student in the neurosciences, Oliver Mai-Kolerus, the PhD program administrator at the Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, and Kim Mason, equal opportunity and diversity officer at the Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure about how they overcame nearly insurmountable obstacles for Alexandra to do her PhD in Germany.

Alexandra’s compelling story points to some of the intransigent barriers that disabled scientists face and the pressing need to address them at institutional and policy levels so that researchers with disabilities have an equal opportunity to pursue careers in science.

Listen to or read the interview on the website under Inclusion/Scientists with disabilities.