Women and Research in Physics

Competition for schools “DONNE E RICERCA IN FISICA: opportunità, ostacoli e sfide”

Among the initiatives planned for the 70th anniversary of the Authority, an event on the theme will take place in May 2022: “DONNE E RICERCA IN FISICA: opportunità, ostacoli e sfide”.

Women contest poster and research in Physics.

As part of this event, the winners and winners of a competition for secondary schools organized within the European GENERA network will be awarded and involving INFN and the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) With the patronage of Società Italiana di Fisica (SIF) and the Associazione per l’Insegnamento della Fisica (AIF). The aim of the competition is to raise awareness among students on the theme of gender equality, projecting them towards a wider knowledge of the opportunities offered by the study of Physics, both through basic research and through its applications in the field technological, medical, cultural, financial etc.

Gender equality and gender mainstreaming in research have been identified by the European Commission as one of the research priorities in Europe. The goal of gender equality is not only an obvious wish but a concrete regulatory reference, also at national level. The recent Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR) recognizes how the lack in STEM of female presence in the study and in the work environments where subjects are required and in particular Physics, Computer Science and Engineering, is a significant obstacle to the economic growth of our country. Corrective measures to be taken so that women have more access to training courses in the STEM subjects and have more career opportunities in scientific research are a priority of today’s society.

The competition asks students and secondary school students to make a video of up to 5 minutes on the challenges that women face in undertaking both study and work in the field of scientific research, highlighting the obstacles and also the opportunities of this choice. It is also possible to participate individually or in groups of different classes, coordinated by one/a teacher.

Participation in the competition must be submitted by February 20, 2022, while the submission of the project by March 21, 2022.

The call and poster of the competition are available on the website http://genera.lngs.infn.it.

Link to video with interviews by Roberto Giacomelli.