Satellite Session: Diversity in Science
November 9, 2022 | Online | 15.00h – 16.30h (CET)
The need for greater diversity in science has become increasingly apparent in recent years. Scientific progress relies on creativity, collaboration, and a variety of perspectives, all of which increase with greater diversity. This advances the field, while also creating a more inclusive and supportive environment. Science continues to lack the voices and contributions of under-represented communities however, an issue that requires our urgent attention.
In this session, we will examine the current status of diversity in science at research institutes, discuss the need to make improvements, consider existing initiatives that have proven to be useful, and contemplate new actions.
Speakers:
Bibiana Campos-Seijo
Editor-in-Chief of Chemical & Engineering News
Dr. Bibiana Campos Seijo is an editor, publisher, and media executive currently working as the Editor-in-Chief of Chemical & Engineering News, which is published by the American Chemical Society since 1923. She is also vice president of the C&EN Media Group. Campos Seijo has tackled the topic of diversity in Chemistry and Engineering in the pages of C&EN. Originally from Galicia, Spain, she studied chemistry at the University of Santiago de Compostela and then moved to Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK to pursue her PhD. Campos Seijo began her publishing career in the UK – where she lived for 17 years – as a technical editor at the European Respiratory Society. In 2009, she became Editor-in-Chief of Chemistry World, the monthly news magazine published by the Royal Society of Chemistry and in December 2014 joined C&EN as Editor-in-Chief.
(Photo credit: Bibiana Campos-Seijo)
Judith Juanhuix
Section Head of Life Sciences of the ALBA Synchrotron
Dr. Judith Juanhuix is the Section Head of Life Sciences of the ALBA Synchrotron. The facility offers to the research groups access to a number of X ray-based techniques in the fields of structural macromolecular and cellular biology. Her own research focuses on scientific instrumentation, the effects of radiation damage and oxidative stress and supramolecular chemistry. She is also a trans rights activist, who has collaborated in the definition of the Catalan integral health care system for trans people based on informed consent, among other initiatives. Juanhuix collaborates with different mass media. In 2021 she published “Una dona” (A woman), in which she gives testimony of her own experiences and ideas on how to convert gender in a space of freedom. She is also a proud mother of two.
Jess Wade
Imperial College Research Fellow
Dr. Jess Wade is a physicist specialized in materials science, chiral materials and circular polarisation, currently holding a Research Fellow position at the Imperial College London. She is committed to improving diversity in science, both online and offline, and she has led and contributed to several inniatives to engage girls in physics, chemistry and engineering. Since the start of 2018 Jess Wade has written the Wikipedia biographies of women and people of colour scientists every single day. She has also written a children’s book on materials and nanoscience called “Nano: The Spectacular Science of the Very (Very) Small”.
(Photo credit: Dave Guttridge)
Moderator:
Robert Sewell
Head of Academic Affairs at ICFO
Prof. Sewell is Head of Academic Affairs at ICFO, responsible for oversight of the ICFO PhD program and training of students and researchers, including programs such as the Summer Fellows program, Maria Yzuel Fellowship Awards, and the Frontiers of Light summer schools.
He completed a dual arts/science undergraduate degree at the University of Melbourne, and received his PhD in Physics from Imperial College London in 2009.
He joined ICFO in 2009 as a Marie Curie Research Postdoctoral Fellow, and became Staff Scientist and Coordinator of Academic Programs in 2015.
In 2020 he was appointed SPIE@ICFO Chair for Diversity in Photonic Sciences.
He is Co-Director of the Master of Multidisciplinary Research in Experimental Sciences offered by the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, and sits on the coordinating committee of the inter-university Master of Quantum Science and Technology.
BIST centres
Institutional Members of the Board of Trustees
