Editorial: EPWS, the voice of European Women Scientists
The European Platform of Women Scientists EPWS is an international, non-profit organisation that represents the needs, concerns, interests and aspirations of over 12,000 women scientists in Europe and beyond.
Since its inception in 2005, more than 100 networks of women scientists and organisations promoting women in science from 40 countries have joined the Platform, working for the promotion of equal opportunities in all scientific fields, for a better integration of the gender dimension in science and research, and aiming to give women scientists a voice in European research policy. Individuals sharing EPWS objective are also members of the Platform.
EPWS is building a structural link between women scientists and European and national research policy-makers in order to achieve equal and full participation of women in science and in science policy for safeguarding European excellence and innovation in research.
Consequently, the Platform’s actions in science policy are focused on the place of Gender at European Union (EU) level, in particular in the Framework Programmes for Research and Development. The Platform also has an important activity on networking and sharing experiences. Thanks to its members’ expertise, EPWS is producing comparative studies on the women scientists’ situations in the different Member States and the best practices to improve these women’s careers and lives.
By its numerous funded initiatives for over almost twenty years, the EU Commission has had a strong influence on the Member States in the Women in Science issues, and an association like EPWS is complementary to institutions, being a think-tank and having the freedom to express the Women scientists views.
EPWS members’ disciplines are almost equally split into science and technology, gender studies and multidisciplinary associations and Physics is well represented: EPS is an EPWS associate member, the Italian Physical Society a full member. In the EPWS Board of 9 members, there are 2 physicists. EPWS has been present in international events on Women in Physics : in the past International Conferences for Women in Physics (ICWP), conferences of the International Union for Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP); in the recent Gender in Physics days, in Vilnius and Paris, in the GENDERA EU project on changing the institutions in Physics labs, where EPWS shared its views on improving the gendered cultures in labs; in the Hypatia EU project on inclusive scientific culture, where several Italian and French EPWS members are stakeholders.
I was appointed the EPWS president at the last General Assembly (5/9/2017), replacing our historical president Dr. Brigitte Muehlenbruch, who brought EPWS to its current high reputation. I am honorary professor of Physics (my research field was Condensed Matter Physics) at École Polytechnique, France, and currently a member of the EPS Advisory Board on Science Policies.
Since a stronger association delivers more powerful political messages, my main objectives are increasing the networking between the EPWS members and taking the maximum advantage from the other countries’ and associations’ experiences.
In case you are not an EPWS member yet, and if you are sharing EPWS objectives, we would be happy to welcome you as an association member or as an individual member!
Claudine Hermann
President of the EPWS
