[Equal] EU: Women and Science Headlines - 22

Mon Jul 23 17:54:53 MEST 2007

Liebe Equals

Anbei erhaltet ihr die neuesten Women and Science Headlines der Unit Scientific Culture and Gender Issues, Directorate General for Research, European Commission.

Herzlich Christa

Women and Science Headlines - 22: 
Contact: Vera Fehnle <mailto:vera.fehnle at ec.europa.eu>                                                            

Robert O'Meara <mailto:robert.o'meara at ec.europa.eu <mailto:robert.o'meara at cec.eu.int> >

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The European Commission has launched an online consultation on combating discrimination in the Member States and at EU level. The public consultation will help the Commission plan new measures to tackle discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in areas beyond the job market. It comes as the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All - which aims to raise people's awareness of their rights to equal treatment and promote a broad debate on the benefits of diversity to society - enters full swing.

"We want to hear the views of as many people as possible on how to take on discrimination effectively in areas such as healthcare, education and housing," said Vladimír Špidla, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. "The EU already has some of the most extensive anti-discrimination laws in the world. But we want to make sure that protection against discrimination is focused where it is most needed and that the right balance is struck between everyone involved - be they individuals, employers, public authorities or associations."

A study of national anti-discrimination laws carried out for the Commission in 2006 concluded that all Member States have legal rules going beyond what is already required by European law - the Race Equality Directive and the Employment Equality Directive. However, there is a considerable variation in the type of rules in place and their scope. Higher protection tends to be granted against discrimination on the grounds of religion and sex, while discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, disability and age is less covered outside the field of employment.

A recent Eurobarometer survey (January 2007) showed that 64% of Europeans believe discrimination is widespread in their country and 51% think that not enough is being done to combat the problem.

The Commission has announced that it will put forward new initiatives in 2008 to prevent and combat discrimination outside the labour market based on gender, religion, belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. Commission initiatives have to be accompanied by an Impact Assessment, which analyses the pros and cons of the various options available. The results of the public consultation will feed into this process.

The consultation is made up of a general online consultation, as well as a consultation targeted at business. It will run from July 4 to October 15 and will be accessible at the following address: 
http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/consultations/index_en.htm <http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/consultations/index_en.htm> 

For more information:

Study on national measures to combat discrimination outside employment

http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/fundamental_rights/public/pubst_en.htm#stud <http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/fundamental_rights/public/pubst_en.htm> 

Anti-discrimination website

http://ec.europa.eu/antidiscrimination <http://ec.europa.eu/antidiscrimination>  

European Year of Equal Opportunities for All 

http://equality2007.europa.eu <http://equality2007.europa.eu/> 

EUROPEAN SCIENCE WEEK 2007 

This year's European Science Week is scheduled to take place from 19 to 25 November and a range of projects are currently organising events for it. For full details, simply go to the Science in Society web portal at: http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/ <http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/>   and click on 'Contests and Prizes'

PUBLICATIONS

Key Figures 2007 on Science, Technology and Innovation 

The latest edition of Key Figures was released in June and brings to light the vital information on Research and Development in the EU. The publication can be downloaded from the following website: http://ec.europa.eu/invest-in-research/monitoring/statistical01_en.htm <http://ec.europa.eu/invest-in-research/monitoring/statistical01_en.htm> . The booklet version will be available in the coming weeks.

Report of the Expert Group on Humanities

Under the mantle of DG Research's Social Sciences and Humanities programme, the final report of the Expert Group on Humanities has been released. The launch of this publication, 'Positioning Humanities Research in the 7th Framework Programme' marks a number of fresh insights into the relevance of significance of Humanities Research in the EU-27.

The report can be downloaded from the 'What's New' section on the right-hand side of this link:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/social-sciences/index_en.htm <http://ec.europa.eu/research/social-sciences/index_en.htm>  

UPDATE: the Executive Summary is now available to download in French, German, Italian and Spanish!

NETWORK NEWS - EVENTS

Knowledge & Skills For A Digital Future - Conference and Workshops

6-7 September 2007 at the Institution of Engineering & Technology, Savoy Place, London

Information Technology Electronics Communication, in collaboration with the ESF funded Equalitec project, invites you to participate in a major conference and workshops, under the title of 'Knowledge & Skills For A Digital Future' and including the subject areas of Recruitment & Retention, Skills & Qualifications and Policy & Innovation. A day  of  workshops on 6th September followed by a day of conference presentations on 7th September from major speakers reporting on: new policy and diversity initiatives; outputs from Equalitec project; new research on recruitment and gender diversity; emerging importance of ITEC skills and qualifications; employment cultures that promote inclusion and innovation.

You should attend if you or your organisation would like to learn about best practice in recruitment and employment of women in ITEC and related areas; how to implement effective gender diversity initiatives; how to put in place support schemes to help women return to industry after a career break; and what skills will be needed to make progress in achieving sustainable technological and innovative economy. Admission is free. For more information and to book a place please contact Equalitec by telephone +44 (0)20 7367 5348 or email: events at equalitec.org.uk.

CALL FOR PAPERS

FEBS/EMBO Women in Science Award

Acknowledging female scientists for outstanding achievements in the Life Sciences

Awardees will receive 10,000 EUR and will be invited to present a plenary lecture at the annual FEBS congress. Applications by nomination only. Nominees should be excellent female scientists working in Europe who have made significant contributions to the Life Sciences in the last 5 years.

For more information, go to:

www.embo.org/gender/award <http://www.embo.org/gender/award> 

www.febs.org/women-award <http://www.febs.org/women-award>  

Deadline for submissions: 15 August 2007

Women in Engineering and Technology Research - International Conference 

26-27 October 2007 - Palais du Luxembourg, Paris, France

This international conference is organized within the framework of the PROMETEA project, by the French members of the consortium: Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan (ENS Cachan), Institut National de Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (INSA Lyon), the Conference of the Heads of French Engineering Schools (CDEFI) and the association ECEPIE. PROMETEA "Empowering Women Engineers in Industrial and Academic Research" is a research project funded by the European Commission under FP6 from November 2005 to December 2007.

The conference is supported by the European Commission, the Regional Government of Ile de France and promoted by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

The objective of the conference is to gather specialists to exchange on gender issues in engineering and technology research careers and bring new perspectives on engineering and technology research in itself.

Conference languages are English and French

For full information, please go to www.prometea.info/conference2007

IN THE MEDIA

Some recent articles which might be of interest... 

>From NATURE - http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070702/full/nj7149-101a.html <http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070702/full/nj7149-101a.html>  

>From the BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6904434.stm <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6904434.stm>  

>From the Guardian - http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2129341,00.html <http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2129341,00.html>  

Research Enquiries:                  http://ec.europa.eu/research/enquiries <http://ec.europa.eu/research/enquiries> 

Christa Sonderegger, Universität Basel

Leiterin Ressort Chancengleichheit

Petersgraben 35, 4003 Basel

Fon +41 61 267 12 46

Fax +41 61 267 30 03

christa.sonderegger at unibas.ch

www.zuv.unibas.ch/chancengleichheit/

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