EPWS was invited in Zagreb to present its view and activities for improving the empowerment of women in science at the conference “Science on the ‘Edge’: Perspectives for the Future” organised by the Ministry of Science and Education of Republic of Croatia. It was represented by Lucia Martinelli, EPWS Board member, Associazione Donne e Scienza, Italy. The conference aimed to create a platform for an open dialog on public policies in the area of social sciences and humanities. The speakers’ backgrounds, accordingly, were characterized by a strong interdisciplinarity, to suitably focus on main barriers, impediments and obstacles to intersectorality concerning women in science, the visibility of science and women, the future of social sciences and humanities and science on the margins of the industry.

The key note speech (Prof. Jadranka Gvozdanović, Heidelberg University) dealt with implicit bias as carrier of discriminations, i.e. a topic recently merging in the equal opportunity debate, resulting in a challenge to the meritocratic principle and to women’s careers in academia.

In the panel “Women in science: tackling challenges”, specifically focused on the glass ceiling from different points of view, Lucia Martinelli presented the EPWS views, actions and perspectives to fight against this barrier preventing careers of women in science and to find measures to overcome it.

In the panel “Visibility of science and scientists in society”, speakers reviewed the existing popularisation measures on EU and Croatian levels along with an active discussion on the public perception of science and scientists.

The future of social sciences and humanities was also discussed by reminding and reflecting on the necessary adaptation that social sciences and humanities should undergo. In particular, the need of suitably intermingling among various disciplines, to contribute in building up an advanced cultural landscape, was stressed.

The current state of the knowledge triangle Academia-Industry-Technology Transfer was finally treated, considering main barriers, impediments and obstacles to intersectorality, also in the light of EU funded projects results.

The conference was the opportunity to also present the Marie Curie Alumni Association – Croatian Chapter-, in a panel about science popularisation.