EPWS

European Platform of Women Scientists

Coordinatore	PLATEFORME EUROPEENNE DES FEMMES SCIENTIFIQUES AISBL    more  Organization address address: RUE D ARLON 38 city: BRUXELLES postcode: 1000 contact info Titolo: Dr. Nome: Maren Cognome: Jochimsen Email: send email Telefono: + 32 2 234 37 50 Fax: -+ 32 2 234 37 59
Nazionalità Coordinatore	Belgium [BE]
Totale costo	839˙648 €
EC contributo	599˙122 €
Programma	FP7-SIS Specific Programme "Capacities": Science in society
Code Call	FP7-Adhoc-2007-13
Funding Scheme	CSA-SA
Anno di inizio	2008
Periodo (anno-mese-giorno)	2008-11-01   -   2009-10-31

 Partecipanti

#	participant	country	role	EC contrib. [€]
1	PLATEFORME EUROPEENNE DES FEMMES SCIENTIFIQUES AISBL  Organization address address: RUE D ARLON 38 city: BRUXELLES postcode: 1000 contact info Titolo: Dr. Nome: Maren Cognome: Jochimsen Email: send email Telefono: + 32 2 234 37 50 Fax: -+ 32 2 234 37 59	BE (BRUXELLES)	coordinator	0.00

Mappa

 Word cloud

Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.

 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

The proposed actions will allow EPWS to consolidate and expand its activities effectively and achieve the impact desired by the Commission and the scientific community: • Increase the participation of women scientists in the EU research policy debate • Enhance the participation of women scientists in FP7 as well as in other available Commission funding and opportunities • Reinforce the provision of EU added value to the Commission and the European research community in the context of the Lisbon Strategy • Expand and strengthen the endeavours towards gender equality and gender mainstreaming policies in science • Reinforce the Commission’s women and science policy. More specifically the proposed actions will contribute to achieving the following: • Raise the total number of EPWS member organisations to over 100 • Foster the creation of networks and strengthen membership in Central and Eastern European Countries by securing at least one member organisation per country • Increase paying corporate membership by acquiring at least 5 additional corporate members • Increase the participation of women scientists in FP7 • Increase the presence of EPWS and its members on advisory and decision making boards and panels • Have the financial sustainability of the Platform ensured by the end of the grant period.

Introduzione (Teaser)

A platform bringing together women scientists' organisations from Europe and beyond has been established to counter the current under-representation of women in science and to make their voice heard.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

It has long been recognised that the position of women in science is of interest not only to women scientists - research infrastructures also benefit from the efficient use of talents. However, few networks of women scientists Europe-wide have the capacity or expertise to enter into the European research policy debate.

The 'European platform for women scientists' (EPWS) was launched in March 2006 to act as the missing link between women scientists and policy-makers. Special emphasis was placed on supporting existing national, regional and international networks of women scientists.

The platform started to reach out to networks across Europe through surveys and questionnaires. Besides collecting information about their main field of interest and activities, the ultimate objective of such efforts was to tell them about the EPWS and encourage them to join in.

In less than three years, EPWS evolved into a network of 104 organisations working for the promotion of equal opportunities in research across 39 countries, reaching out to more than 12;000 women researchers in Europe and beyond. And it continues to acquire new members today.

The network met for the first time in autumn 2006, held its first general assembly in 2007, enjoyed the success of its first annual conference in 2008 and the latest in 2010. The conclusions from all meetings, stressing the need to include gender issues in research programmes, were provided as input to public consultations of both the European Research Area and European Research Council.

As women in science are still outnumbered by men at all levels, the EPWS proposed changes to increase the participation and advancement of women scientists and engineers. In addition, by networking across institutes and national borders, women have made a concerted effort to penetrate the 'old boy network'.

Yet, in spite of its increasing impact, high visibility at European level and the acknowledged crucial nature of its work, EPWS continues to face financial difficulties. Initially funded by the European Commission through its Sixth and later the Seventh Framework Programme, since 2009 the platform has been supported by its members working on a voluntary basis.