🔭 Updates N°16, June 2020 🔬

EPWS Updates N°16 | June 2020

                        
                            Contents
                        

1. Editorial

From EPWS
2. Virtual General Assembly, for EPWS members only

From EPWS associations
3. Association of Hungarian Women in Science (NATE): Women in Science Award and invitation to UN Women meeting at the Mexico Embassy in Budapest

From EU and international institutions
4. Last Horizon 2020 SwafS call highly competitive: 407 projects requesting a total of €700 million
5. European Parliament, FEMM Committee: Results of the study on “Education and employment of women in science, technology and the digital economy”

Selected publications
6. EPWS suggests some articles released during the COVID-19 crisis on the effect of pandemic on women scientific careers
7. Women in parasitology: “Building Parasitology Communities to Promote Gender Equality” by English et al.

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1. Editorial

Dear Reader,
The COVID-19 lockdown is stopped in European countries and we are now experiencing the next step of the pandemic control; it is now possible to travel over EU. EPWS hopes that the lockdown period was not too difficult for you and your families. Indeed, as can be seen in articles 6 below, the lockdown burden relied more on female scientists than on their male counterparts and there may be long-term effects on women scientists’ careers.
We wish you an easy way back to a resilient “normal” life.

Prof. Claudine Hermann, EPWS President

2. Virtual General Assembly, for EPWS members only

Due COVID-19 pandemic and its related organization uncertainties, the EPWS 2020 General Assembly will take place by teleconference, on September 1st. Only members having paid their 2020 membership fee can attend it; they will be directly informed.

3. Association of Hungarian Women in Science (NATE): Women in Science Award and invitation to UN Women meeting at the Mexico Embassy in Budapest

The Women in Science Award was established 7 years ago by the Association of Hungarian Women in Science (NATE) to highlight and recognize the excellent women in STEM. This year, on 05/03/2020 the Women in Science Award was given in three categories (astronomy, mathematics and physics) at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

On 10/03/2020, Dr. Katalin Balázsi, president of NATE and member of the EPWS Board of Administration, was invited for a round table discussion in Budapest with the Ambassador of Mexico David Nájera Rivas and the Ambassador of France Pascale Andreani, in the framework of the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing 1995). The generation equality and diversity were discussed.

4. Last Horizon 2020 SwafS call highly competitive: 407 projects requesting a total of €700 million

Extended by one week due to the COVID-19 outbreak and closed on 23 April, the last Horizon 2020 SwafS call received 407 project proposals with a request of almost €700 million in funds, i.e. 11 times the total available budget! Topics covered ranges from Responsible Open Science to Gender-Based Violence in research organisations and universities. The most successful topics were: Open schooling and collaboration on science education, Hands-on citizen science and frugal innovation and Science education outside the classroom. Results should be announced by the end of July this year.

Commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the FEMM Committee, the study provides evidence that there is still gender bias and inequality in STEM and digital sectors, and offers an up-to-date literature review on the current status of women’s education and employment in STEM fields and the digital sector.

6. EPWS suggests some articles released during the COVID-19 crisis on the effect of pandemic on women scientific careers

The situation seems to have more negatively impacted women than men scientists:

"The pandemic and the female academic", Nature, April 17^th 2020
"Women academics seem to be submitting fewer papers during coronavirus", The Lily, April 2020
"Women's research plummets during lockdown - but articles from men increase", The Guardian, May 12^th, 2020
"Women are battling both COVID-19 and patriarchy", Times Higher Education, May 15^th, 2020
"Women are getting less research done than men during this coronavirus pandemic", The Conversation, May 18^th, 2020

7. Women in parasitology: “Building Parasitology Communities to Promote Gender Equality” by English et al.

The article, published in Trends in Parasitology, shares the experience of building communities of women parasitology and offers easy-to-implement guidelines for scientists and institutions to overcome unconscious bias and create environments with better gender equality and diversity.

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