Women in

STEM Science Technology,

Engineering and Maths

Annual report

December 2017

December 2016

• 7 December Woman on Walls portraits unveiled

– Accenture and Royal Irish Academy

– Phyllis Clinch (plant viruses) and Sheila Tinney

(mathematical physics) two of the first four women elected

to the RIA 1949.

– Seven women scientists group portrait

https://www.ria.ie/public-engagement/women-wallshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLD_4i6suzwGVgau0W5f63axZVvq_jiVtd&time_continue=2&v=6OnxgX5m4nE

February 2017

• 9 February UCD Women in Leadership conference

– Women in STEM panel chaired by Aoibhinn Ni

Shuilleabhain with Marguerite Sayers ESB, Ann O'Dea

Silicon Republic.

February 2017

• 26 February The Diversity in Tech Community in

Dublin and Ireland

– Vicky Twomey-Lee’s list published and updated regularly

in 2017.

https://code.likeagirl.io/the-diversity-in-tech-community-in-dublin-ireland-vicky-twomey-lee-8b24c50ba188

March 2017

• 8 March International Women’s Day

– Silicon Republic recognises 25 of Ireland's phenomenal

women in engineering

• WITS members Niamh Shaw, Norah Patten and Ita Richardson

recognised

– Accenture Women’s Day event

• WITS Showcase

– Women in the City Dublin City Council reception Mansion

House

• hosted by Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor Rebecca Moynihan

• WITS invited

– 365 Women in STEM

http://witsireland.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=37442c1c5293421ce5b63c4b2&id=b9e0e4e622&e=d6d033a6e8https://www.siliconrepublic.com/people/international-womens-day-accenture-dublinhttps://twitter.com/365womeninstem?lang=en

March 2017

• Path-breaking Women of NUI Galway 1912-1922

and beyond.

– Exhibition March 2017 NUIG

– Celebrated Alice Perry first woman engineer in Ireland or

England, Ada English one of the first women doctors in

Ireland, Máirín De Valera lecturer in botany UCG.

– Read brochure here.

http://witsireland.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=37442c1c5293421ce5b63c4b2&id=7421b668c8&e=d6d033a6e8https://vimeo.com/189917895http://www.nuigalway.ie/media/nuigalwayie/content/files/aboutus/Path-Breaking-Women---Brochure.pdf

March 2017

• 4-10 March Engineers Week

– supported by Engineers Ireland

• 7 March Royal Irish Academy Cunningham medal

awarded to Professor Dervilla Donnelly

– First female recipient

http://witsireland.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=37442c1c5293421ce5b63c4b2&id=16a6d47f71&e=d6d033a6e8https://www.ria.ie/news/grants-and-awards/cunningham-medal-presentation

March 2017

• 15 March UCD and DCU awarded institutional

Athena Swan Bronze awards

– The Athena Swan charter recognises advancement in

gender equality

http://www.ucd.ie/equality/groups/athenaswan/http://www.dcu.ie/equality/athenaswan.shtmlhttp://witsireland.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=37442c1c5293421ce5b63c4b2&id=5a463b1dde&e=d6d033a6e8

April 2017

• 10 April iWish founders honoured

– Ruth Buckley, Gillian Keating and Caroline O'Driscoll,

iWish founders honoured as Cork March Persons of the

Month for encouraging females to pursue careers in STEM

• 13 April FameLab finals Science Gallery Dublin

– Deirdre Robertson winner

– FameLab is a competition for scientists to communicate

their research in three minutes.

• 23-29 April Tech Week

– supported by the Irish Computer Society.

http://witsireland.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=37442c1c5293421ce5b63c4b2&id=329a36b8bb&e=d6d033a6e8https://www.britishcouncil.ie/events/famelab-ireland-%E2%80%93-final-0https://www.britishcouncil.ie/famelab/finalists/previous-winnershttp://witsireland.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=37442c1c5293421ce5b63c4b2&id=43b96418aa&e=d6d033a6e8

May 2017

• 3 May National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-

2020 launched

• 5 May The L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science

Programme winners 2017

– Dr Annie Curtis, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland,

Immunology

• 18 May Inaugural Mary Mulvihill Memorial Award

– Prize for the best piece of science writing Irene Fogarty

– Prizes presented by Prof Jane Grimson of TCD & WITS.

http://www.genderequality.ie/en/GE/Pages/NationalWomensStrategyhttps://www.womeninscience.co.uk/news/2017-fellowship-winnershttp://pi.rcsi.ie/pi/anniecurtis/research.asphttps://marymulvihillaward.ie/award/about-the-award/https://marymulvihillaward.ie/award/previous-winners/

June 2017

• Institute of Physics Mary Somerville medal and prize

for 2017 awarded to Dr Jessamyn Fairfield NUI Galway

• 9 June Professor Jane Grimson of TCD awarded an

honorary degree (Doctor of Laws) by NUI Galway

– for services to engineering & gender equality in higher

education

http://www.iop.org/about/awards/early-career/mary-somerville/page_69687.html

June 2017

• 23 June Women in STEM MediaPlanet campaign

– WITS members profiled Mary Carroll WITS Chair, Professor

Dervilla Donnelly, Kate Reidy, Fardus Sultan, Dr Niamh Shaw

• 23 June International Women in Engineering Day

http://www.businessnews.ie/women-in-stemhttp://www.businessnews.ie/women-in-stem/the-surprising-diversity-of-roles-for-women-in-science-and-techhttp://www.inwed.org.uk/

June 2017

• 26 June Women in STEM in 2017 winners at Ireland's

Top 25 Most Powerful Women Awards.

- Business Leaders WITS Corporate member ESB's Marguerite Sayers Managing Director, ESB Networks Ireland

- Entrepreneurs Jane Ni Dhulchaointigh Founder, Sugru

- Future leaders Ciara Clancy CEO, Beats Medical

- Trailblazers Professor Lydia Lynch Associate Professor, Trinity

College Dublin; Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School

https://www.wxnetwork.com/ga/top-100/irelands-most-powerful-women-top-25-winners/

July 2017

• 5 July Professor Louise Kenny Director of INFANT,

the Irish Centre for Fetal and Neonatal Translational

Research Guaranteed Irish Science Hero 2017

• 6-8 July Inspirefest2017

– Niamh Shaw, Lisa Looney DCU, Michelle Cullen

Accenture, Jane Ni Dhulchaointigh Sugru among the

inspiring speakers

http://www.guaranteedirish.ie/louise-kenny-wins-guaranteed-irish-science-hero-award/

July 2017

• 15 July Soapbox Science Galway

• 15 July Iranian math genius, Fields Medal

winner Maryam Mirzakhani passed away.

• 19 July Report on Higher Education Institutional Staff

Profiles by Gender

– Small improvements from 2015-2016.

http://soapboxscience.org/soapbox-science-2017-galway/http://witsireland.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=37442c1c5293421ce5b63c4b2&id=51b6e15776&e=d6d033a6e8http://hea.ie/2017/07/19/report-on-higher-education-institutional-staff-profiles-by-gender-published/

August 2017

• 15 August Niamh Shaw WITS member completes a

zero gravity flight Star City Russia.

• 26 August 99th birthday Katherine Johnson whose

work for space travel was profiled in the film Hidden

Figures.

September 2017

• 20 September Women in STEM society

WiSTEM2D University of Limerick

– Jessica Silva and Siobhan Phelan UL students set up the

society

– First event at the University of Limerick on September

20th.

September 2017

• 26 September Royal Irish Academy seminar Fixing

the leaky pipeline and retaining our talent

– Jane Grimson event organising committee

– PhD survey results by Niamh Shaw, Jane Grimson and

Marion Palmer presented

– Report now available

https://www.ria.ie/news/science-committees-engineering-and-computer-sciences-committee/fixing-leaky-pipeline-andhttps://www.ria.ie/sites/default/files/report_final_version-1_0.pdf

October 2017

• 2 October WMB Women Mean Business Awards

– WMB Woman in Technology Award 2017 Louise Kenny,

Founding Director,

Metabolomic Diagnostics

• 5 October Wiki Science scientific photo competition

– Wikimedia competition with Women in STEM category

– Winners here

http://www.womenmeanbusiness.com/awards/the-2017-winners/http://www.metabolomicdiagnostics.com/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wiki_Science_Ireland_2017https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wiki_Science_Ireland_2017

October 2017

• 2 October WMB Women Mean Business Awards

– WMB Woman in Technology Award 2017 Louise Kenny,

Founding Director,

Metabolomic Diagnostics

• 19 October Women on Walls update

– Three women scientists & RIA members photographs on walls

• Anna Davies Geography TCD, Catherine Godson Molecular Medicine

TCD and Celia Holland Zoology TCD.

http://www.womenmeanbusiness.com/awards/the-2017-winners/http://www.metabolomicdiagnostics.com/https://www.ria.ie/news/public-engagement/academys-latest-women-walls

November 2017

• 2 November Irish women in Maths celebrated

– Maths Week celebrates Irish Maths pioneers

– Margaret McDonnell, Mary Everest, Alice Boole, Sophie

Willcock, Alice Everett, Kay McNulty, Sheila Tinney (nee

Power)

• 10 November Teagasc Women in STEM booklet

launched.

https://www.rte.ie/eile/brainstorm/2017/1017/912946-meet-irelands-pioneering-mathematical-women/https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2017/Teagasc-Women-In-STEM.pdf

November 2017

• 18 November Sibéal Feminist and Gender Studies

Network workshop on STEM in Third Level survey

– Major findings presented

– Lack of diversity in STEM at third level

– Women at all levels do not feel they belong in STEM as

much as men

http://www.sibeal.ie/

November 2017

• 20 November Image Business Women of the Year

Awards 2017

– Claire McHugh, CEO, Axonista Digital, Science and

Technology Businesswoman of the Year.

– Clodagh Cavanagh, managing director, Abbey Machinery

CEO of the Year.

https://www.image.ie/life/gallery-businesswoman-of-the-year-awards-2017-the-winners-104576http://www.axonista.com/http://www.abbeymachinery.com/2017/12/04/award-winning-ceo/

November 2017

• 27 November STEM Education Policy Statement and

Implementation Plan launched

– Aim to increase by 40% the number of females taking

STEM subjects for Leaving Certificate by 2026

• 30 November European Digital Girl of the Year 2017

awards

– European Ada Awards Brussels 30 November

– Irish girls win top awards

https://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Press-Releases/2017-Press-Releases/PR17-11-27.htmlhttps://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/digital-girl-europe-2017-ada

December 2017

Wiki Science

scientific photo

competition

Women in STEM:

Every Day I’m

Culturing – Zcsharp

December 2017

• 4 December, 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in

Science UK & Ireland Fellowship Awards

Programme open for applications.

– Five outstanding female early-career scientists will be

awarded a bursary of £15,000.

– Female early-career researchers working in the field of life

and physical sciences, engineering, mathematics and

computer sciences.

– apply online at www.womeninscience.co.uk by 16

February 2018

http://www.womeninscience.co.uk/

2018 events

• 24 February – 2 March Engineers Week

• 22 – 28 April Tech Week 2018

• 21 – 22 June Inspirefest

• Maths Week

• Science Week

Women in STEM social media

• 365 Women in STEM

– Launched on IWD2017, this feed highlights one excellent

woman in STEM every day for a year - totalling 365

women in STEM

– Irish scientists #166 Aoibhinn Ní Shuilleabháin, #144 Eva

Philbin and #98 Professor Dervilla Donnelly in the list.

https://twitter.com/365womeninstem?lang=enhttp://witsireland.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=37442c1c5293421ce5b63c4b2&id=f4fdc01eb5&e=d6d033a6e8http://witsireland.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=37442c1c5293421ce5b63c4b2&id=d1c7b76d6b&e=d6d033a6e8http://witsireland.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=37442c1c5293421ce5b63c4b2&id=4ea8a85260&e=d6d033a6e8http://witsireland.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=37442c1c5293421ce5b63c4b2&id=f356a1a208&e=d6d033a6e8

Women in STEM social media

• The Female Scientist blog celebrates women in

science, with portraits, guides and research articles.

The Irish scientists are:

– Dr Olivia Hurley IADT an accredited sport psychologist

passionate about all things sport and performance

psychology related!

– Laurie Winkless a physicist, science writer, and author of

Science and the City!

– @ScientistFemale

https://thefemalescientist.com/https://thefemalescientist.com/portrait/dr-olivia-hurley/1287/meet-dr-olivia-hurley-an-accredited-sport-psychologist-passionate-about-all-things-sport-and-performance-psychology-related/https://thefemalescientist.com/portrait/laurie-winkless/898/meet-laurie-winkless-a-physicist-science-writer-and-author-of-science-and-the-city/

Women in STEM social media

• 500womenscientists @500womensci,

https://500womenscientists.org/

https://500womenscientists.org/

WITS AGM #27

STEM science, technology, engineering, maths

STEAM science, technology, engineering, art and maths

STEMM science, technology, engineering, maths and

medicine