María José Sánchez is one of the ten scientists who has participated in the International Day of Women and Girls in Science celebrated by the ISCIII
As every year, February 11 commemorates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a date that tries to make visible and recognize the importance of women in R+D+I, foster the interest of girls in science, promote equality and support the generation of scientific vocations from childhood and youth. For this reason, the ISCIII has organized an activity, focused on ESO and Baccalaureate students, held on Thursday the 9th in the Ernest Lluch Room on the Chamartín Campus of the Institute, and which can be followed live from the ISCIII Youtube Channel.
Full video of the session held with scientific directors of the IIS and students of ESO and Baccalaureate.
The event brought together nine of the ten scientific directors of the Health Research Institutes (IIS), entities accredited by the ISCIII with headquarters in hospitals throughout Spain that promote biomedical and health R&D&I. There are a total of 34 accredited IIS, of which 10 have a female Scientific Directorate. Although there is still a clear majority of male scientific directors, five years ago there were only three women in this position, which gives an idea of the progressive advances in equality pursued by the ISCIII.
The scientific directors of the following IIS participated in the event: Granada (ibs.GRANADA), Principality of Asturias (ISPA), Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), A Coruña (INIBIC), Galicia-Sur (IISGS), Fundación Jiménez Díaz (IISFJD), Ramón y Cajal (IRYCIS), San Sebastián (IIS Biodonostia) and Bilbao (IIS BioCruces). These centers have the scientific direction, respectively, of Maria José Sánchez Pérez; Mª Victoria Álvarez Martínez; Mª Luz Couce Peak; Maria del Mar Castellanos Rodrigo; Eva Poveda Lopez; Carmen Ayuso Garcia; Mª Laura García Bermejo; Itziar Vergara Micheltorena, and Maria del Mar Mendibe Bilbao. The IIS of the Hospital Clínico de Carlos also has a scientific director, Elena Urcelay García, who was ultimately unable to attend the event.
In the act it has been projected an informative video in which the ten scientific directors briefly and simply answer ten questions on topics related to the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. In this link of the Youtube Channel of the Institute You can see the 10 individual videos recorded with the 10 directors. At the event, after a presentation by the director of the ISCIII, Cristóbal Belda, and one of its deputy directors, Pilar Gayoso, the ten scientists will answer many other questions from the girls and boys from ESO and Baccalaureate institutes present in the auditorium. .
The questions raised by the students have been very varied: how did the scientists participating in the act discover science, if their expectations have been met, if they have noticed obstacles due to the fact of being women, if they consider that it is possible to live off the research, what female role models they have had throughout their professional career, etc. The deputy director of the ISCIII, Pilar Gayoso, closed the event with a reflection on the need to continue working on equality, diversity and the visibility of the work of scientists and researchers.
In this video, the 10 scientific directors of the IIS answer various questions about their dedication to science, female leadership and the generation of scientific interest among girls and boys, among other issues (editing: Ricardo Santamaría and Lara Mazagatos, ISCIII).
Initiatives from the Ministry of Science
The event organized by the ISCIII has been framed in a long list of activities that will be carried out this week by the centers and organizations dependent on the Ministry of Science and Innovation , which can be consulted in this Dossier of Activities for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, prepared by its Women and Science Unit, and which also includes initiatives from universities, entities and associations.
Thus, within the framework of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, more than 200 activities are held on these dates organized by organizations and centers dependent on the Ministry of Science and Innovation, such as the aforementioned ISCIII and many others from the CSIC, FECYT, CIEMAT and MUNCYT.