Offers for (expectant) fathers
Fathers today have clear ideas about family-friendly employers. For example, they want more flexible working hours and a softening of the traditional presence culture. It is important for them to have colleagues and especially superiors who are willing to find solutions together to make it possible to combine active fatherhood and a professional career. In order to raise awareness of this issue and support active fatherhood, Paderborn University has put the topic on its agenda and implemented measures since the first re-audit in 2008.
News pilot project
Together with six other universities and a university hospital, the V?TERCAMPUS NRW has been created - a growing network for exchange, reflection and inspiration on active fatherhood in the university context.
V?TERCAMPUS NRW is a place for exchange, reflection and development - in the middle of the balancing act between the lecture theatre, home office and family time. The goal: conscious, active and partnership-based fatherhood - as a contribution to joint social change.
Digital lectures
As part of the pilot project, digital impulses with the opportunity to exchange ideas will be offered for over a year, including on the following topics:
- 16.09.25 | 10-12 a.m. | Calmly through everyday family life! Stress management for fathers
- 21.10.25 | 12-14 h | Parental allowance: More than just an application*
- 30.10.25 | 12-14 h | Actively shaping life transitions
- 02.12.25 | 12-14 h | Routines & rituals and their significance for the father-child relationship
- 19.01.26 | 12:00-13:30 | Digital media - curse or blessing?*
- 10.02.26 | 10am-12pm | Being a father today: Between role and reality
Further lectures are being planned for 2026. Partners are also welcome to attend lectures with an asterisk*.
All lectures (without exchange) will be made available afterwards in the internal field and can therefore also be accessed flexibly. In addition to the above-mentioned lectures, which are aimed exclusively at fathers from the participating universities, the community calls and digital campfires can also be used free of charge via the Vaterwelten platform. Some of the topics are
Family finances - Special children - Separation & patchwork - Paediatrician Ralf Brügel - Love & sexuality
Registration & conditions of participation
V?TERCAMPUS NRW is aimed at students and employees of participating universities and university hospitals in NRW. Registration (and verification) is only possible with the official university e-mail address. Participation via alumni networks or for former employees is unfortunately not possible. Participation is free of charge for students and employees of Paderborn University. The project will be evaluated after one year and a decision will then be made on whether to continue. Participating institutions:
FH Aachen - Ruhr-Uni Bochum - FH Dortmund - University Hospital Münster - TH OWL - Paderborn University - FH Südwestfalen
More information
More project-related information is available from the FamilienServiceBüro and directly on the platform.
Further offers
Target group
The peer counselling for fathers and fathers-to-be is aimed at early career researchers at Paderborn University who have children or (would soon like to have children) and want to deal with issues such as temporarily taking parental leave, sharing family work as partners, role divergences or conflicts as a researcher and father and similar issues.
Benefits of peer counselling
Participants learn and practise a structured form of peer counselling in which they work together in a team of men in similar situations to solve problems and conflicts of being a father and a scientist.
Peer counselling for scientists
- helps to overcome professional problems more easily and effectively and to develop greater scope for decision-making
- is an efficient instrument for promoting managers
- strengthens your own positioning and role-finding.
Overview of the programme modules
The programme consists of
- Collegial counselling with regular meetings at intervals of around four weeks
- Training for the introduction to peer counselling
- a workshop on the topic of "Fathers' interests in science and university"
The programme runs for 6 months. After that, the counselling groups can be continued on a self-organised basis.
Registration
If you are interested or have questions about the content of the programme, simply contact Dr. Julia Steinhausen, 60-2898) by e-mail or telephone.
A group will start as soon as enough participants have registered.
There is also a similar programme for mothers and mothers-to-be at Paderborn University. Further information can be found here.
Project management
Dr Annika Hegemann (project manager of the audit family-friendly university and central equal opportunities officer)
Prof. Dr Ingrid Scharlau
Dr Julia Steinhausen (cross-faculty mentoring programmes)
Flyer for download
Experience report of a participant
Information for English speaking fathers and fathers-to-be
伟德体育_伟德国际手机1946-在线*平台@s and lectures on the topic of "Reconciling fatherhood and work" are regularly offered as part of internal training and development programmes. In a mixture of lecture, discussion and exchange of experiences, the workshops focus on the framework conditions for reconciling work and fatherhood in the university context. The opportunities and advantages of actively practising fatherhood will be examined, as will the problems and difficulties involved in finding a satisfactory work-life balance. How can fathers better reconcile family and career? How can they manage both tasks well and happily, and how can they avoid excessive demands? What do fathers need to be satisfied at work and at home? These questions are at the centre of the workshops. Participants are given the opportunity to develop strategies and solutions for a satisfactory work-life balance together with other fathers. Wishes and suggestions for the university as an employer to enable a better compatibility of active fatherhood and career can also be developed during the workshops.
Contact:
Lea D?ren
Room: B1.320
Phone: 05251/60-2529
Email: lea.doeren@zv.uni-paderborn.de
Family Service Office
Barbara Pickhardt
Room: E2.101
Phone: 05251/60-3725
Email: barbara.pickhardt(at)upb(dot)de