The principal of the Universitat de València, María Vicenta Mestre, recalled that “the United Nations adopted this day five years ago in order to give voice to women and enhance their roles in STEM branches - science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.” The principal stated that “not only fewer women enroll in STEM degrees, but also their participation declines as they move up the career ladder, which eventually leads to female underrepresentation in leadership positions.” As such, women’s work remain invisible, and their presence in the world of science is limited.

“STEM-related sectors are the future. For this reason, the Universitat stands up to increase the number of women working in STEM fields and show the girls that they have the future, the voice,” pointed out the Vice-Principal for Equality, Diversity and Sustainability, Elena Martínez. “We have developed a list of activities that will take place throughout the week and aim at celebrating and enhancing the role of women in the fields of science and technology.” As a public institution, we should break the stereotypes and build the future in which the role of women in sciences is fully recognized and established,” underlined the vice-principal.

A list of activities:

Botanical Garden

The cycle “Women and Sciences at the Botanical Garden” shall take place from Tuesday 11th to Friday 14th and include many educational events. The total of four femal researchers will deliver their speeches within the programme: “Mom, I want to be a botanist” (by Ana Juan) and “The Rett syndrome, a rare form of a female disease” (by Carmen Agustín) will be given on Tuestay at 19:00. Meanwhile, the same time Wednesday, Dolors Corella and María Asunción Menargues shall dwell upon their research in the talks “A woman in her personalized diet” and “Science in accion for 21st century schools” respectively.

On Thursday at 19:00, "Joan Plaça" auditorium will host a round table discussion “Gender gap in science: myths, prejudices, and stereotypes”. The participants will include Pas García Martínez, a professor of optics; Carla Sanchis, a professor of psychobiology; Mónica Bolufer, a professor of modern history; and Anna Mateu, an editor-in-chief of the Mètode magazine which coordinated the event moderated by the journalist Kristin Suleng. The cycle “Women and Sciences at the Botanical Garden” shall close on Friday with the screening of the documentary Symbiotic Earth: How Lynn Margulis rocked the boat and started a scientific revolution, followed by a movie discussion. Please, find all the activities of the Botanical Garden following this link: http://ir.uv.es/B7VjQwl.

Third Conference for Women in Neuroscience

Within the framework of the Third Conference for Women in Neuroscience, the neuroscientists Marta Miquel Salgado-Araujo, Sacri R. Ferrón, Ana Belén Espinosa, Ana Domingo Muelas y Candela Machuca Arellano will deliver various speeches on Tuesday, starting from 12 o’clock, in the Assembly Hall of the Faculty of Pharmacy. Meanwhile, the researchers of the Universitat de València and the Universitat Jaume I - María Abellán Navarro, Ana Martín Sánchez, Lucia Hipólito Cubedo, and María Carmen Pastor Verchili - will give their talks in the university campus in Castellón. Also, on Tuesday afternoon, the third- and fourth-year high-school students shall hold a Neurotrivial competition at Falla Plaza Jesús square. Click here for more information: http://ir.uv.es/b97lSPI

Institute of Molecular Science (ICMOL)

The Institute of Molecular Science (ICMOL) of the Universitat de València has elaborated a few talks for various centres of secondary education in the Valencian province. As such, the scientists Lorena E. Rosaleny, Silvia Giménez, Alicia Forment, Raquel E. Galian, Rosa Córdoba, Helena Prima, and Soranyel González shall visit schools during the whole week and organise discussions about the role of women in sciences. For example, some of the planned talks are “Women and Sciences: the Past, the Present, the Future” and “The Memoirs of a Scientist”. The events of ICMOL may be found following the link (please, use the filter “Valencia”): http://ir.uv.es/10bbrJ8.

Girls4STEM

The team Girls4STEM (the project fostering vocational training in STEM of the Universitat de València) also participates in the initiative and offers educational activities to reinfornce the presence of women in STEM-related fields. The group has organized a series of talks and workshops in educational centres that shall start on 3rd February and last until 14th February. Silvia Rueda, Emi López, Sandra Roger, Rafael García, Xaro Benavent, Esther De Ves, Joaquín Pérez, Carmen Botella, and Esther Durá have already given some presentations centered on the presence of women and girls in STEM careers. More information on the activities of Girls4STEM can be found here: http://ir.uv.es/F2pbbOJ.

Institute for Corpuscular Physics (IFIC)

The Institute for Corpuscular Physics (IFIC), a joint centre between the Universitat de València and the Spanish Research Council (CSIC), will also commemorate the Day of Women and Girls in Science. The programme includes presentations to be held in colleges of the Valencian Community involving such researchers as Olga Mena, Ana Pañuelas, Anabel Morales, Mariam Tórtola, Berta Rubio, Pilar Coloma, Ivania Maturana, and Valentina de Romeri.

In addition, on Monday morning, 10th February, the institute organized a particle physics masterclass for the girls ine their third- and fourth-year of high-school, in which the participants studied Z boson and a famous Higgs boson using real data of the ATLAS experiment of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Later, there was a talk about the role of women in science. On Wednesday, 12th February, at 15:30, they will also screen a documentary Lo engima de Agustina followed by a movie discussion in the Assembly Hall of the Science Park of the UV and organised in collaboration with ICMOL and the Office for Young Researchers, Gender and Diversity at IFIC. More information on IFIC activities: http://ir.uv.es/6sRY7wd.

Institute of Material Science (ICMUV)

On Tuesday, ICMUV organises a seminar/workshop that will start at 15:00 in the room SS6 in the Science Park and shall discuss the visibility of women in science. The participants Mercedes Aler (a doctor at Institute of Legal Medicine of Valencia) and Salomé Cuesta (a director of the Department of Sculpture of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Universitat Politècnica de València) shall present the context and mechanics of the Invisibility Memory game. It aims at demonstrating how many stories, biographies, and contributions of women were left unnoticed throughout the history. More activities of ICMUV can be found here: http://ir.uv.es/epX017U.

Faculty of Medicine and Odontology

On 25th January, the Faculty of Medicine and Odontology already started the activities commemorating the Day of Women and Girls in Science with the presentation of a new edition of Technovation Girls, the world's largest tech entrepreneurship programme for girls in the STEM-related fields. The programme focuses on sustainability issues and requires the participating teams to develop a business plan and build a mobile application to solve a local social problem.

Emilia Matallana

On Tuesday, a full university professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Universitat de València, Emilia Matallana, will participate in a Concepción Aleixandre a la Mujer Científica Valenciana award ceremony, which will take place in Picanya Cultural Centre at 18:00. Aleixandre was one of the first women to have graduated from the Universitat de València in the end of the 19th century with a degree in Medicine.