After 16 years in the USA, scientist Dr Stefanie Mayer has returned to Germany. At Ulm University, the psychologist is researching how stress in childhood affects long-term health and is setting up her own working group to develop interventions. This is made possible by a special programme from the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung, which is funding the researcher with around 1.7 million euros. There were many reasons for Mayer's return home.

What once began as a semester abroad was to become the stepping stone of a career as a scientist in the USA: in 2009, Stefanie Mayer, then a Psychology student in Würzburg, went to the University of Michigan, where she wanted to write her thesis. It quickly became clear that she wanted to stay longer. "I was attracted by the country and the research - I wanted to do my PhD there," reports the scientist. She initially stayed in Michigan, completed her doctorate and finally went to her dream city of San Francisco in 2017 as a postdoc at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she became an assistant professor in 2021. Mayer spent her entire research life in the USA before deciding to turn her back on her adopted home and work at Ulm University in the future.

A decision that was anything but easy for her. And yet she is convinced: "It had to be done, for many reasons." There were the political measures restricting scientific research overall; there was the difficulty in obtaining funding for her own research. Then there was the extremely high cost of living and Dr Mayer's personal situation: she had married and started a family. So she put out feelers to Germany and made contact with Professor Iris-Tatjana Kolassa. "Dr Mayer is an excellent young female scientist who is returning to Germany from a prestigious research group and is an ideal fit for our research profile," says the Head of the Department of Clinical and Biological Psychology at the Institute of Psychology and Education. "We are therefore extremely pleased that she has chosen Ulm. I am convinced that this will be a great benefit for both sides."

Stefanie Mayer's new start was made easier by a special programme for international academic freedom from the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung. Its approach is to offer researchers from countries with increasingly restricted academic freedom, such as the USA, research opportunities in Baden-Württemberg. The foundation not only finances the position of the sponsored postdoc, but also a dedicated junior research group at the state universities. The aim is to enable scientists in an early career phase to develop and implement a longer-term research project.

"With the special programme Freedom of Science, we have set up a programme to provide targeted support for highly qualified researchers from Germany and abroad and to reinforce Baden-Württemberg as a location for scientific research and innovation," says Theresia Bauer, Managing Director of the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung. "Academic freedom is a valuable social asset. At a time when academic freedom is under pressure not only in authoritarian states, but also in liberal democracies, it is important to act quickly and provide appropriate support for the scientists affected."

Dr Stefanie Mayer in the Department of Clinical and Biological Psychology is now also benefiting from this funding: she is researching how stress in childhood affects mental and physical health in adulthood and would like to devote more time to psychotherapy research: "Science and practice mutually reinforce each other and provide important impulses for each other," says Mayer, who attaches great importance to combining clinical practice and research - a benefit of her new position at Ulm University with its outpatient clinic, where the scientist will conduct the study. "I am incredibly grateful to the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung and especially to Professor Iris-Tatjana Kolassa for their support in my move to Ulm University," says the researcher. "She was incredibly kind, inviting and made me feel very welcome here." Mayer is particularly pleased that the foundation is funding her research group with a postdoc and two doctoral positions - with around 1.7 million euros in the period from 2025 to 2031, assuming a positive interim evaluation: "That's great!"

Dr Stefanie Mayer has been at Ulm University since the end of last year and is currently putting together her team and preparing her study. In order to effectively treat depressive patients with childhood maltreatment, she wants to develop and test a group therapy to treat stress-related mechanisms. This will combine trauma-sensitive mindfulness exercises for emotion regulation, health-promoting behaviour and elements of trauma therapy.

Dr Stefanie Mayer faces a number of challenges in Germany: the scientific system works differently here and many processes are fundamentally different from those in the USA. But she is convinced that she has made the right move and is looking forward to her new life and the short distances in Ulm: "The city is family-friendly and I think it's nice that we live in the countryside and that I can work at the university at the same time."

Text and media contact: Christine Liebhardt

Additional information: Ulm University Medicine supports returnees from abroad

Although the nomination phase for the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung's special programme has ended, Ulm University Medicine is currently offering its own funding for returnees from abroad. With the "Junior Research Groups for International Returning Scholars" programme, the Medical Faculty aims to attract excellent, internationally recognised junior scientists who are currently working abroad to move to Ulm University and offer them attractive conditions for setting up their own independent research group. High-profile junior researchers with clear third-party funding prospects are particularly welcome. Successful candidates can set up their own research group and receive a "start-up package" of up to 1.5 million euros for five years. Application deadline: 16 March