The Institute for Corpuscular Physics (IFIC), a joint research centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universitat de València, once again joins the commemoration of March 8, International Women’s Day. This date was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1977 to highlight gender inequality and promote the effective equality of women’s rights across different areas of society.

With this objective, the IFIC Equality and Diversity Committee (CID-IFIC) marks the occasion with several initiatives promoted by the committee itself.

Installation of commemorative banners and panels

For the first time, thanks to the efforts of the CID-IFIC, commemorative panels have been installed both outside the institute and inside it — in the first-floor corridor. The aim is for two types of panels to symbolically highlight, for the time being, two clearly defined periods: the period between February 11 and March 8, represented in purple, and the month of June, represented with rainbow colours.

These spaces may also be used in the future for other commemorative banners linked to specific communities or topics, which will be defined by the CID based on suggestions from members of IFIC.

5th Meeting of equality committees of the PCUV institutes

As part of the commemoration of International Women’s Day, a special event titled Women and Science: Trajectories, Barriers and Leadership took place last Thursday, March 5, at the Marie Curie Auditorium of the Parc Científic de la Universitat de València (PCUV).

The event was jointly organised and promoted by the equality committees of the different institutes at the PCUV. In this fifth edition, the organisational and logistical coordination was carried out by the Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology (ICBiBe). Several distinguished researchers took part in the event.

Ana Crespo, president of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain (RAC), opened the session and delivered a highly engaging keynote lecture as a guest scientist. In her talk, she combined personal recollections related to discrimination against women in science with reflections on her own development as one of the leading authorities in her field of research, lichenology.

The programme continued with a roundtable discussion featuring Ana Crespo (RAC), Safaa Elidrissi Moubtassim (from the Institute of Molecular Science, ICMol), Tonyi Rodrigo (member of ICBiBe) and Alma Virto (from the Institute of Robotics and Information and Communication Technologies, IRTIC), all of them researchers with well-established scientific careers.

The roundtable was moderated by Kristin Suleng, communications officer at the PCUV. The discussion addressed several issues related to the role of women in science and the obstacles faced by women researchers throughout their careers: inequality in access to senior and leadership positions, difficulties in achieving work–life balance, professional sacrifices — particularly with the arrival of motherhood — the impact of micro-sexism in academia, challenges in pursuing studies depending on the country, society or historical context, gender bias, and equality policies and action plans, among other topics.