BRUSSELS, BELGIUM — I am here to attend the 12th meeting of the national contact points for Marie SkÅ‚odowska-Curie Actions, combined with a specialized training sponsored from the Research Executive Agency in the European Commission headquarters. The trip and training are financed under the Net4mobility project funded by the European Union.
As the appointed national contact point of Horizon 2020 (and the succeeding Horizon Europe) which is the funding mechanism for research of the European Union, I provide ‘support services. spreading awareness and giving specialist advice to potential applicants as well as provide information on other opportunities in Europe’.
During the discussion, the head of the Research Unit commented that my experience is quite unique as I am both an alumna of the Erasmus Mundus and the Marie Curie Fellowships which are two flagship programs of the EU.
Further, apart from being national contact point, I am the chairperson of the Marie Curie Alumni Association in Southeast Asia.
What I hope to do is to encourage more researchers to avail of the opportunities especially in Europe. For one, the Individual Fellowships support the mobility of researchers to conduct research and Europe or to host a European researcher who will bring his/her own funding. Another program is RISE which promotes international and cross-sector collaboration through exchanging research and innovation staff, and sharing knowledge and ideas from research to market (and vice-versa). The scheme fosters a shared culture of research and innovation that welcomes and rewards creativity and entrepreneurship and helps to turn creative ideas into innovative products, services or processes.
I encourage research institutions to avail of this opportunities. At a time when we are plagued with global issues, we have to work together with our peers from across the world to find solutions while moving towards sustainable development.
I was supposed to go to the United Nations for the Council for the Status of Women meetings but the event was cancelled because of the coronavirus.
Instead, the Nordic diplomatic representations and cultural institutes invited me to the annual International Women’s Day event at the Danish Embassy.
This year’s discussion focused on women working in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). More women are now turning towards a future in the STEM fields.
Yet, the scarcity of women in STEM continues to be a problem. In our discussions, we tackled the STEM gender gap and how to bridge collaborations for equality within the different areas of STEM.
Are there areas where the gender quotas are reversed, where the workforce largely consists of only women? And at a time when technology shapes and transforms every aspect of our lives, how can women in STEM contribute to the innovations of the future?
In the discussions, we all agreed that to succeed, we have to create an enabling environment for women to flourish and these need the existence of purpose, the existence of a supportive community and the opportunities for engagement.
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