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Supporting Gender Equality

ICTP strives to attract and retain female scientists

ICTP and the Developing World

Promoting science equality for all

Why are there still fewer women than men in science? In a world where just 30% of researchers are women, the reasons are many, ranging from the challenge of balancing family life and career to a lack of childcare support and role models.

ICTP hopes to address some of these challenges through a number of initiatives aimed at increasing the participation and representation of women in physics at the Centre.

By including specific actions to this end in its new strategic planning, ICTP has already taken some important steps:

In March 2024, ICTP released its Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP), acknowledging gender equality and intersectionality as key objectives and fundamental values of ICTP as a UNESCO research and educational institution, in line with its overall Strategic Plan.
ICTP representatives took part in the celebrations of the International Women’s Day organised by its UN partner, the IAEA, on 8 March. ICTP shared information about its programmes via a plenary session and at an exhibit.
Every year, ICTP organises activities for the UN's International Day of Women and Girls in Science, held on 11 February. Past events have included a public outreach event showcasing the research of female scientists from ICTP and other Trieste institutes, as well as special online activity targeted to school students titled "Scienziate per il cambiamento climatico" (women scientists for climate change), with ICTP climate scientists Erika Coppola and Anna Pirani. A video recording (in Italian) is available here.
ICTP hosted its sixth Career Development Workshop for Women in Physics from 6 to 10 November 2023. This follows on workshops held in 2021, 2019, 2017 (photos can be found here), 2015 as well as in 2013.
ICTP hosted a talk by Shobhana Narasimhan (Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore) during the celebrations for the Postgraduate Diploma Programme's 30th anniversary in August 2021 on "Fighting Systemic Gender Discrimination in Science".
ICTP hosted the 'Conference on Global Approach to the Gender Gap in Mathematical, Computing and Natural Sciences: How to Measure It, How to Reduce It?' from 4 to 8 November 2019, during which results of a three-year project were presented.
The Centre offered free attendance and accommodation for one of its renowned conferences to the five winners of the 2015 Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early Career Women Scientists in the Developing World, which focused this year on physics and mathematics.
The Centre devoted two sessions to Women in Science during its 50th anniversary celebrations in 2014.

More actions are planned, thanks to the appointment of a coordinator for ICTP's women in physics initiatives. Please check this web page frequently for new developments and opportunities.