research – R&I Peers

17 July 202212 September 2023

RI PEERS Final Project Event

On 12 July 2022 in Salerno, Italy and online, R&I PEERS project partners orgnised the project’s final multi-sectoral conference on the theme of “Gender Equality policies and actions: Lessons. Impact. Sustainability.” Presentations from the event are included below, and feedback is welcome.

Also, be sure to check out the RI PEERS Project video!

R&I PEERS Multi-sectoral Conference:

1. Welcome & Introduction to the RI-PEERS Multi-sectoral Conference – Digital Leadership Institute and University of Salerno

2. Gender & Policy: Mina Stareva, Policy Officer, European Commission – Presentation (PDF)

3. Lessons learned: Experiences from Gender Equality Changemakers, Chairperson: Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc, ZRC SAZU

R&I PEERS Project: Francesca D’Ambrosio, University of Salerno – Presentation (PDF)
GENDERACTION Project: Marcela Linkova, Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences – Presentation (PDF)
CHANGE Project: Himi Hana, Beit Berl Academic College – Presentation (PDF)

4. Impact: Gender equality policies in the local ecosystem, Chairperson: Francesca D’Ambrosio, UNISA

Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc, ACT Project, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts – Presentation (PDF)
Amani Charrad, The National Agency for the advancement of scientific research – Presentation (PDF)
Prof. Cristina Rossi La Mastra, Business and Industrial Economics, Department of Management Engineering of the Politecnico di Milano
Alessandra Pedone, Confindustria Salerno – Presentation (PDF) and “Siamo Pari” Video (MP4)
Sigal Fishman, Galilee Research Institute – Presentation (PDF)

5. COGE Awards: Patrizia Grifoni, National Research Council – Presentation (PDF)

6. Sustainability: the way ahead,Chairperson: Katja Legisa, DLI

Yolanda Ursa, GENDER STI Project, GrupoInmark
Shadrack Mkansi, Science Awareness Platforms South African Agency For Science and Technology Advancement, SAASTA
Yiannis Laouris, MD, PhD, MS, Senior Scientist Cyprus Neuroscience & Technology Institute – Presentation (PDF)

7. Panel Debate:

Bice Della Piana, PhD, Associate Prof., Dep. Management & Innovation Systems, University of Salerno
Mauro Cozzolino, Associate professor of clinical psychology, University of Salerno
Fernando Ferri, National Research Council

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24 March 202224 March 2022

Confindustria Study on Gender Equality in Private Sector Research

Between December 2020 and June 2021, R&I PEERS project partner Confindustria Salerno, carried out a study through its Plural Women’s Committee to measure gender equality among organizations in its network that are engaged in RD&I activities. The completed report was disseminated among Confindustria association stakeholders in a series of events, meeting and workshops, and an executive summary of the outcomes is now available for download.

As part of the survey, a matrix of indicators was developed across seven clusters, and a questionnaire submitted to companies with internal research and innovation roles. Forty-two private sector organizations participated in the study, including those that directly carry out periodic or continuous R&I activities, as well as those that are involved in partnerships with research institutions and universities.

To download an Executive Summary of the Confindustria Gender Equality study results in English (7MB PDF), please follow the link below.

Confindustria-GE_Survey-R_I-Peers_31-03-21 Download

2 January 202218 January 2022

Writing Retreat: A Unique Gender Action

At Tel-Hai College (Israel), the gender-equity unit has organized a writing retreat for women faculty for the last four years. This action arose from the notion that a retreat not only addresses the needs of women scientists regarding time constraints but also creates a supportive community within the institution that will help support women’s scientific progress.

The writing retreat has been offered to all women faculty at all academic levels within the organization. Usually, twenty to thirty women signed up for three to four workdays. The retreat takes place in a rural and quiet location, offering accommodation, meals, and basic conditions for writing and reading. During the retreat, participants meet twice: At the beginning, when each participant presented her goal for the retreat, and at the end when all shared their outcomes and thoughts. None of the activities is obligatory so that each participant can freely invest her time according to her needs and wishes.

The outcomes exceeded our expectations on several levels: First, it was efficient in terms of working products. Second, casual meetings between the participants created a sense of belonging and partnership in a supportive community. Third, these meetings created new opportunities for unexpected collaborations and mentoring relationships between faculty members who only tangentially knew each other beforehand. Finally, the retreat raised participants’ appreciation of the significance of gender-related activities that the organization supports.

From a personal point of view, this author found the writing retreat to be very effective in achieving work goals and empowering experience in terms of being part of a supportive community of women scientists. No less important, it was fun!

Author: Andrea Szuchman-Sapir, Head of the vascular signaling group at MIGAL research institute, and faculty member of the Tel-Hai College, Israel.

29 June 2021

Gendered health research from Hellenic Statistical Authority needed to confirm data

The Hellenic Statistical Authority conducts a research about health population issues every five years since 2009. The research is attuned to the statistical surveys of the European Union members.

The 2019’s research on 8125 households, males and females over 15 years old gathers information concerning the use of health services, the maintenance of individual’s health and the factors involved such as nutrition, smoking, alcohol, fitness activity etc.

According to the 29^th Informative Note of the GSDFPGE Observatory and based on the Hellenic Statistical Authority research, 44,8% women over 15 years old have had a mammography during the last couple of years (increase of 6,7% since 2014 :42%). 33,1% has never done mammography (decrease of 13,8% since 2014: 38,4%).

The results of health population for the following years 2014 and 2019 concerning the four main geographical regions are illustrated likewise:

In 2019, 77,1% of the female population claim that are in good health while in 2014 the percentage was 71%. Evidently there is an increase.

In 2019 the 81,9% of the male population claim that they are in good health. In 2014 the percentage was 78,9%.

This shows that the majority of female population realises the importance of prevention concerning female diseases, so programs in this direction will continue to be implemented.

4 March 202127 May 2021

Dr. Dorit Avni Awarded EUR 7.5M Grant for Ground-breaking Research

Dr. Dorit Avni credits a gender equality plan implemented during the R&I Peers Project with her success at leading and winning a prestigious EU Horizon2020 project bid in the amount of EUR 7.5 million. Dr. Avni, whose project ALGEA4IBD will pursue ground-breaking research on inflammatory bowel disease, is group leader of the Bioactive Metabolites and Immune Modulation Laboratory at the MIGAL Galilee Research Institute (MIGAL), a regional mega-R&D centre supported by Israel’s Ministry of Science and Technology, and partner to the R&I Peers Project.

As part of an R&I Peers Gender Action Plan implementation at MIGAL, Dr. Avni and her colleagues participated in “Champions,” a course launched in 2019 aiming to promote advancement of women researchers and increase their participation in international and competitive research projects, in leading scientific journals, and in economic and research decision-making,

Following the course, which tackled empowering self-confidence, improving presentation capabilities, and developing the ability to write competitive research proposal, Dr. Avni initiated, led and coordinated a successful consortium bid for the ALGEA4IBD Project.

Of her achievement Shai-Lee Spigelman, Science and Technology Ministry Director-General says, “this award is an impressive achievement that few achieve, with international recognition confirming the importance of this innovative project aimed at transforming algae into sorely needed treatments for inflammatory related diseases.”

For more details see the article published in Yahoo Finance and The Jerusalem Post.

27 June 201928 June 2019

Women and academia: what are the prospects?

The first Doctoral seminar dedicated to the presentation of the European project “R&I PEERS – Piloting Experiences for Improving Gender Equality in Research Organisations” will take place at the University of Salerno, on Friday 28 June 2019 at 10,30 am. The event, focused on gender issue in research, is organised by OGEPO-UniSa (Interdepartmental Observatory for the Gender studies and Equal Opportunities). It represents one of the activities envisaged within the Gender Equality Plan of the UniSa, approved in the framework of the R&I PEERS. At the heart of the debate there will be some key current issues concerning “Women and Science” such as university career paths, the European research area and equal opportunities policies. The seminar will include speeches of Maria Rosaria Pelizzari, Director of the OGEPO and Coordinator of the R&I PEERS project; Loredana Incarnato, Responsible for the STEM area of the R&I PEERS project; Federica Di Sarcina, R&I PEERS research fellow and expert on European gender equality policy and Annalisa Apicella, Vice-Coordinator of ADI Salerno.The event is supported by ADI Salerno, the Italian Association of PhD candidates and PhDs.

25 April 20195 June 2019

Integrating the Gender Dimension in Research

At the second progress meeting for the R&I PEERS project, held in Athens on 4 April 2019, consortium members organised a workshop on “how to integrate the gender dimension into research content.” The aim of this training was to provide consortium partners with knowledge on how to integrate the gender perspective in research in a way that does not deal with the topic of “gender” as a specific research objective.

The workshop was built around the Toolkit for Integrating Gender-Sensitive Approach into Research and Teaching developed as part of the GARCIA project, and was convened by Dr. Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc, one of the Toolkit authors hailing from R&I PEERS project partner ZRC SAZU.

The aim of the Toolkit itself is to help researchers and teaching staff understand the relevance of gender to scientific inquiry by addressing questions to their past and future research/teaching trajectories. Using the Toolkit, then, the focus of the workshop was to:

Raise awareness about the value of integrating the gender dimension in research;
Examine how the gender perspective could lead open new opportunities research inquiry; and
Promote more socially responsible and sensitive scientific inquiry.

Starting from the premise that there are no ready-made solutions, the workshop participants were asked to describe a project that does not have gender component so the group could practice gender-sensitive approach from scratch. In this way, the workshop was structured as a thought exercise in which the convenor facilitated discussions on how a gender-sensitive approach could be applied on concrete project questions, methodologies, and results.

Workshop participants were evenly divided between those familiar with gender studies concepts and those from disciplines where exposure to such concepts is rare. This encouraged lively debate where, through exchange of knowledge between the groups, a notable achievement was an increase in understanding around the concepts of ‘gender’ and ‘intersectionality’.