Signing for gender equality in physics research
To advance recruitment and career progression of female physicists and engineers, the directors of the four NWO physics research institutes the Netherlands, AMOLF, ARCNL, DIFFER and Nikhef, have signed Gender Equality Plans. The official ceremony took place on January 22nd, 2018 at the start of the large Physics@Veldhoven conference in front of the physics community in the Netherlands. It kicked off a systematic approach to accelerate improving the gender balance in the national physics research institutes, leading to structural changes. By publicly signing the plans, the four institute directors emphasised their commitment to and the legitimacy of the agreed actions and measures for gender equality.
GENERA Gender in Physics days in Europe
In general, the physics research community fosters the assumption of being gender neutral. However, despite this, the under-representation of women in physics research is a long-standing and persistent issue. With this in mind, an international Consortium of Research Performing and Research Funding Organisations have engaged in the H2020 GENERA project which aims at continuing, monitoring and improving their Gender Equality Plans customised for the physics research community. The project started in September 2015 and is now half-way through its project life time.
