 She is a member of the European Commission's Network of Women in Decision Making in Politics and the Economy, and Vice President of the Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Foundation in Germany.After finishing her PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Mühlenbruch worked as a scientist at the University of Bonn for almost 20 years before becoming the University's first Equal Opportunities Commissioner.Since the late 1980s her research and concept development have focused on gender equality, gender mainstreaming, and programmes and processes regarding the recruitment and retention of women scientists in Germany as well as at the EU level.