Everyday is International Day of women and girls in science

Euskampus takes part in a session on Women in Science organised at Askartza Claret School to celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science 

On 10 February, the Euskampus Cooperative Research and Innovation Area, with the Scientific Director of the Joint Research Laboratory-Offshore Renewable Energies (JRL-ORE), Eider Robles, as the main speaker, organised a session on Women in Science, which was attended by 300 year 3 and year 4 children from Askartza Claret School.

Miriam Ruiz, Head of Cooperative Research and Innovation at Euskampus, introduced the session by explaining how Euskampus Fundazioa works to facilitate collaboration between scientists. She also asked the children a few questions about what they think science is, where it can be found and who does it. They answered enthusiastically and creatively, making the session dynamic and entertaining from the start.

After talking briefly about what the scientific method is all about, and going over the fascinating stories of several important female scientists, the children listened to the interesting story of another female scientist, in person.

Eider Robles shared her experience as a female scientist working both at Tecnalia and in the UPV/EHU as a researcher and lecturer respectively, at the same time. After talking about her hobbies and what led her to choose a career in science, she explained that she works in research and lecturing in the field of renewable marine energy at the Bilbao Engineering School. 

The researcher and lecturer explained in detail some of the experiments and projects she is working on to tackle the challenges of installing, starting up and maintaining floating wind turbines on the Basque-Aquitaine coast. To support her talk, she showed photos and videos of her team at sea. The audience was very interested and keen to take part in the Q&A session. The students were able to hear first-hand the story of how a young woman balances her passion for science with her everyday life as a mother of two girls, and as someone who loves nature and travelling. 

The aims of this session organised by Euskampus and Tecnalia was to tell children in years 3 and 4 about female scientists who have made important contributions throughout history, and also to foster an interest in scientific and technological initiatives. 

These activities are used to address some of the prejudices that sometimes exist regarding a career in research, and also to create role models that are interesting and inspiring, especially to girls. 

This session helps to generate social impact, which is one of the most important strategic goals of Euskampus and of the institutions on its Board of Trustees.