HEC Lausanne (UNIL) launches the “Female Career Award”

Success and an exceptional career have made the young researcher and professor, Franziska Völckner, a real role model for all women who are keen to embark on an academic career or just starting out. The “Female Career Award HEC Lausanne (UNIL)”, which was awarded for the first time on June 7, highlights the remarkable career of a woman whose research and publications in the field of marketing and brand positioning are now widely recognized in both the practical world and scientific and academic circles.

The launch of the new award is part of HEC Lausanne’s Equality Action Plan 2017-2020, which has defined its own objectives and measures to promote equality within the School, as part of UNIL’s overall equality program.

Awarded twice a year, the “Female Career Award” is aimed at female researchers affiliated to an institution other than UNIL, offering the School’s female students, doctoral and post-doctoral researchers a new source of inspiration for the next stage of their academic career. “Creating visibility around role models with whom they can identify is very important for encouraging and motivating women in the field of scientific research,” explains Professor Marianne Schmid Mast, chair of the Equal Opportunity Committee of HEC Lausanne. “As a result, we  organized a round table the day after the award ceremony, which gave the winner a chance to talk to doctoral and post-doctoral students at HEC Lausanne, during which Prof. Völckner shared her professional experience as a woman.”

How is the award organized?

The various departments at HEC Lausanne identify and then propose individuals to the School’s Equal Opportunity Committee. The Committee then selects and appoints the winner based on criteria such as the researcher’s level of expertise, productivity and honors in respect of scientific publications. Prof. Franziska Völckner, who has over 3,000 Google Scholar citations and numerous honors, was thus chosen as the winner of the first award. 

Prof. Völckner, a breathtaking career

"Prof. Völckner is one of the top 10% of the most productive and qualitative researchers in the field of business administration and in German-speaking countries.” explains Prof. Markus Christen, Marketing department at HEC Lausanne. "By the way, when appointed to the University of Cologne in 2007, she was the youngest professor in economics and business administration in Germany. And since then, despite her professorship, she has maintained her impressive pace of research production. "

During the award ceremony, which took place at UNIL on Thursday, June 7, Professor Völckner gave an overview of her research. In her lecture, entitled “Brand positioning based on brand image-country image fit”, she explained the reasons why it is important to adapt a brand’s positioning strategy to the image of the target country, by capitalizing on the consumer’s local culture.

More information about the Equal Opportunity Committee of HEC Lausanne