EPWS General Assembly and Conference 2010

The European Platform of Women Scientists
will hold its
General Assembly and Annual Conference:

Women in Present and Future
European Research

in Brussels, Belgium, on 10-11 June 2010.

“We will know that ERA is a shared responsibility [between science, policy and society] in 2030 when we see…half of all scientists and research policy makers, across all disciplines and at all levels of the Science system, are women.”

(Preparing Europe for a New Renaissance, A Strategic View of the European Research Area, First Report of European Research Area Board, 2009, p. 18)

For the development of a knowledge-based society, Europe needs leading-edge science and scientists and European research needs to reach all its potential contributors. This is especially important with regard to women scientists – given the substantial gender imbalance in science, where women represent more than half of the students’ population, but hold on average only 18% of senior academic positions (She Figures 2009).

A number of recent and current European projects supported by DG Research under the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) are tackling the issue of gender balance in science, starting from the point of view that a better balance between men and women will only be achieved through a structural change inside science and its institutions.

Encouraging girls into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is a concern all over Europe, in connection with both an increasing need for a highly-skilled labour force and the low proportion of young women who are opting for STEM courses. Several members of EPWS are involved in practical actions to encourage young people, particularly girls, to follow STEM careers.

This conference will be an opportunity to present news about ventures across Europe and to share best practice. The conference aims to report on recent and current projects from across Europe to improve the gender balance in science. It will be a lively market place of networks, ideas, and partnerships. Participants will have the opportunity to present their work both through participating in discussion sessions and/or through a poster exhibition highlighting their activities related to the Conference topics.

We look forward to meeting you in Brussels.

To Register, please click here

For the Preliminary Programme, please click
here

For information on how to reach the Royal Belgian Museum of Natural Sciences, please click
here

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