What question did this study set out to answer?

To investigate Lise Meitner's life and contributions to atomic physics while examining the status of women in academia.

March 6, 2026Open Access

Lise Meitner (1878–1968) in Berlin – 30 Years of Research on Foundational Problems in Physics and the First Female Corresponding Member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences

Key Points

To investigate Lise Meitner's life and contributions to atomic physics while examining the status of women in academia.
Literary review of Lise Meitner's work from 1907 to 1938
Contextual analysis of the scientific environment in Berlin
Exploration of women’s roles in the scientific community during Meitner's time
Meitner was the first female corresponding member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences in 1949.
Her research with Otto Hahn significantly advanced atomic physics.
The article highlights the challenges women faced in academic careers during the early 20th century.

Abstract

In my article I’m investigating some aspects of the life and work of the female physicist Lise Meitner (1878–1968) who in 1949 became the first female corresponding member of the prestigious and old Academy of Sciences in Berlin. In Berlin she did fundamental research on atomic physics from 1907 until 1938, most of the time together with her colleague and close friend Otto Hahn (1879–1968). After March 1938 she was forced to leave the country and finally escaped to Stockholm. In this article it will be sketched out the context of her work and life, the situation for women scientists in the world of academia, and her special role as a pioneer, as the first woman scientist in most steps of her academic career, and about her acknowledgement in the scientific community and her legacy.

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