Next February 11 is celebrated as the "International Day of Women and Girls in Science". In 2015, the United Nations established this date to recognize worldwide the role played by women and girls in science.
The women scientists of the Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Alberto Sols ( IIBM), would like to commemorate this special day by participating in numerous outreach activities to make visible and enhance the value of our work, as well as to promote scientific vocations in girls. Blanca Lizarbe, Elisa Fernández, Pilar López Larrubia, María Monsalve, Amparo Cano, Isabel Varela, Belén Peral, Ana Guadaño (together with Víctor Valcárcel and Marina Guillén), Gema Moreno, Ana Monfort and Alicia González-Martín, from the IIBM, are actively contributing to this important challenge of approaching science to society. The following is a brief summary of their activities.
Blanca Lizarbe Serra will discover science to the children of kindergarten and primary school at Lepanto School through a scientific gymkhana performing experiments to find out a final enigma. During the gymkhana, the students will learn about women scientists and their contributions to science.
Pilar López Larrubia will give the lecture "My scientific career" to students from first to fourth year of Secondary Education at Calasanz School in Pinto. Pilar, as coordinator of the IIBM Equality Committee, participates together with the CSIC+UAM Intercenter Equality Commission in the exhibition "Escape Road: In Search of Nobel and Non-Nobel Women Scientists", which will be displayed in the hall of the Faculty of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Madrid from February 7 to 11. The exhibition includes biographies of numerous women scientists.
Elisa Fernández Núñez, at the Jaime de Foxá School in Toledo, will perform the scientific workshop "We like science" with children from kindergarten. In addition, in the same city, Elisa will present two conferences: "Research with gene editing tools" and "Women of Science" at El Greco Secondary School and at the Juanelo Turriano Secondary School, respectively.
María Monsalve will contribute with the conference "The research career" at the Valdebernardo Secondary School and at Nuestra Señora del Pilar School to explain what science is, what scientists do and their impact on society. In addition, María will participate in the "Encounters 2x2 between scientists and entrepreneurs. Breaking glass ceilings: women scientists, from the laboratory to entrepreneurship" at the National Museum of Natural Sciences.
Belén Peral will be performing the scientific workshop "Playing with colors: rainbow gradient" for 3rd and 4th primary grade students at Santamarca and San Juan Bautista Schools. In these workshops we will talk about women scientists in the field of physics and chemistry and students will learn concepts such as mass, volume, density, and weight. Belén will also give a lecture on "Conscious nutrition for a healthy life" to 3rd and 4th secondary grade students from two secondary schools, Mirasierra and Fuentelareyna.
Amparo Cano will participate in the meeting "Researcher, let nothing stop you" to talk about the journey towards science. This meeting, organized by the Foundation of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC), is mainly aimed at students in 3rd and 4th year of Secondary Education but can also be followed on YouTube.
Gema Moreno, Ana Monfort and Alicia González-Martín have participated on February 8 in the initiative "Conócelas", which was recently published on our website.
Isabel Varela has attended a meeting between Scientists and Entrepreneurs: "Breaking glass ceilings: women scientists, from the laboratory to entrepreneurship", as reported on February 8 in our website.
Ana Guadaño and Víctor Valcárcel will carry out an interactive survey through the social networks of the Spanish Society of Neuroscience (SENC) about the present situation of women. Afterwards, there will be a debate on the networks to share ideas and opinions, both from scientific and non-scientific people. The aim is to discuss why it is necessary to commemorate the 11th of February. Ana Guadaño will also participate, along with Marina Guillén, in an outreach video promoted by the Fundación Ciudad de Alcobendas to highlight women scientists in that city.
The IIBM appreciates the participation of all these women scientists (and Víctor Valcárcel) in the 11F 2022 initiative ( 11defebrero.org), and congratulates them for their important job of disseminating science to society, especially to children, who are the future of our country.