Emakumeak Zientzian, people in search of a full life

Thirty-two Basque entities, including the Basque Country Technology Park, are jointly organising an extensive programme for the 8th edition of Emakumeak Zientzian in Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia and Araba.

The main aim of this edition is to emphasise that people in the scientific and technological field want to be people with a full life.

Thirty-two Basque entities join forces around the Emakumeak Zientzian project, thus ratifying their commitment to the aims of the initiative: to make the activity of women in science visible, to break with the typically male roles attributed to scientific-technical activities and to encourage girls and teenagers to choose scientific careers. With these objectives in mind, the entities are joining forces to organise a programme of activities for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, which is celebrated every year on 11 February.

Each year, in addition to fulfilling the main objectives of the initiative, the Emakumeak Zientzian project makes a deep reflection to advance in a necessary change of scenario in the technological scientific panorama. Thus, this year “we want to emphasise that people in the scientific-technological field are still people with their needs, their passions, their commitments and their hobbies”, says the organisers of Emakumeak Zientzian. In the field of science, as in so many others, there is a demand today to change the standards of excellence and the idea that a professional vocation leaves little time to devote to family, leisure or personal development. All of this will be captured in a personal video. “We are going to launch a campaign starring different people from the scientific-technological field, and we have focused on their lives beyond science. We don’t want superheroines who achieve everything, nor do we want them to give up their lives to achieve success. They are real lives that try to achieve balance in the different stages of a professional career”, they add.

The Emakumeak Zientzian 2024 programme will be concentrated in the week of 8 to 16 February. An extensive programme of more than 60 activities has been designed, covering for the first time the three historical territories, as the capital of Alava is incorporated as the setting for some of the events in this new edition so that the message ‘science is for girls’ reaches and permeates as many people as possible. “We want to make a special appeal and invite everyone, regardless of their gender, identity, origin, profession or age, to take part in the activities,” say the organisers of Emakumeak Zientzian.

To warm up, this year Emakumeak Zientzian will kick off in a festive atmosphere on Thursday 8 February in Donostia, where the aforementioned video will be presented, more testimonies will be shared and all the volunteers, as well as the institutional representation, will be brought together.

From that day onwards, there will be activities open to the public of all ages in Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia and Alava. For the general public, Donostia, Bilbao and Gasteiz will be hosting the event “Women scientists of yesterday and today”, in which several women scientists working in different fields of research will take to the stage to talk about their research projects and also pay tribute to some of history’s great women scientists by recounting their fascinating lives and scientific contributions. In addition to the usual student visits to research centres and specific workshops for teenagers, this year we will repeat the Back to School experience, in which more than 60 female researchers will go to the classrooms of educational centres to talk about their experiences and thus contribute to awakening the scientific vocation among students. Likewise, specific groups will continue to be targeted, such as women over 55, to highlight the role of adult women as transmitters of culture; thus, in the activity The power of experience, seven research centres will open their doors to showcase the research they carry out, through a series of short experiments that are easy to do anywhere, to bring scientific culture closer to families and our environment. There will also be round tables, some aimed at the scientific and technological community, and others more open to younger people, to learn more about entrepreneurship and meet female engineers.

The full programme of activities is available from today on the website www.emakumeakzientzian.eus, and registration for the different activities is now open.

The 32 entities participating in the 8th. The 32 entities participating in the 8th edition of Emakumeak Zientzian are a representative sample of the science and technology fabric of the Basque Country: Euskadi Technology Park, Achúcarro, BCMaterials, the Centre for Materials Physics (CFM CSIC-UPV/EHU), CIC biomaGUNE, University of Deusto, UPV/EHU Computer Science, UPV/EHU Chemistry, Aranzadi Zientzia Elkartea, Basque Artifcial Intelligence Center (BAIC), Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM), Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), BioBizkaia, Biodonostia, Ceit, CIC energiGUNE, CIC nanoGUNE, Cidetec, Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), Elhuyar, Eureka! Zientzia Museoa-Kutxa Fundazioa, Fundación Biofísica Bizkaia (FBB), Ikerlan, Ingeniariak-Colegio Oficial de Ingenieros Industriales de Gipuzkoa, Mondragon Goi Eskola Politeknikoa (MEGP), Mubil, Parque Tecnológico de Euskadi, POLYMAT, Tecnalia, Tecnun, UPV/EHU Ingenieros and Vicomtech.

Emakumeak Zientzian 2024 has the outstanding support of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, Fomento San Sebastián, the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA) and Salto, as well as the collaboration of the following entities and organisations: The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), the State Research Agency through the Severo Ochoa and María de Maeztu centres that are members of the initiative, the Basque Film Library and the San Sebastian International Film Festival, Donostia Kultura, Emakunde, the Lemniskata network, Ikerbasque, Aspegi (Association of Professional, Business and Managerial Women of Gipuzkoa), Biook, Skills4Science, the UPV/EHU Equality Department and Casio.