The International Day of Women and Girls in Science was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in order to promote full and equal access and participation for women and girls in science. 11 February is an opportunity to celebrate the essential role that women and girls play in science and technology.
For the seventh year running, CERN is getting involved by organising local activities for all ages.
Presentations in local schools
(Image: CERN)
From 30 January to 3 February 2023, around a hundred volunteers – all female scientists and engineers from CERN, Scienscope (UNIGE), the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the Annecy Particle Physics Laboratory (LAPP) – will be visiting some 240 schools in the canton of Geneva, the Nyon area, the Pays de Gex and the Annecy conurbation to talk to the pupils about their professions.
They will talk about their career history and the projects and experiments in which they are involved, and in some cases give a short demonstration. The aim is to change how young people in our region view scientific, technical and technological professions and to show them that careers in science, technology, engineering and maths are just as accessible to girls as to boys. And, who knows, the presentations might even help some to discover their vocation!
Show “La Forza Nascosta – Scienziate nella Fisica e nella Storia” (suitable for all ages)
CERN will host the show “La Forza Nascosta – Scienziate nella Fisica e nella Storia” (The Hidden Force – Women Scientists in Physics and History) at 8.00 p.m. on Wednesday, 8 February in the Globe of Science and Innovation. This musical theatre production tells the story of physics in the twentieth century through the eyes of four renowned women scientists: astronomer Vera Cooper Rubin, nuclear physicist Marietta Blau, and particle physicists Chien-Shiung Wu and Milla Baldo Ceolin.
The show, in Italian with English subtitles, has been conceived of, written and promoted by a group of women physicists from the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics and the University of Turin’s Physics Department.
For more information and to register: http://voisins.cern/en/events
Interactive theatre-forum “Coffee Machine” event (for the CERN community)
The CERN Diversity & Inclusion Programme, in collaboration with the diversity offices of ALICE, CMS and LHCb, will host the interactive theatre-forum “Coffee Machine” event, open to all CERN personnel.
The event aims to raise awareness of how sexist behaviour can limit the full participation of women in the workplace. Through an interactive theatre piece performed by a Geneva-based group, we will observe subtle forms of such behaviour and learn how to intervene in a timely and effective manner. This creative activity reminds us how we can all contribute towards an inclusive and conducive scientific research environment.
The event will take place on 9 February from 2.00 to 4.00 p.m. in the Globe. Places are limited, so for more information and to register please click here.