Dr Grainne El Mountassir is the Chair of the Faculty of Engineering's Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Group. One of the aims of WISE is to ensure there's sufficient support for women in the Engineering Faculty to progress in their careers.
WISE runs a series of events throughout the year:
Events
December 2014
The theme of the group's second event was encouraging children into STEM subjects and supporting women through their research careers.
Speakers at the event included:
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Carol Trager-Cowan
- Young Academy of Scotland member, Ashleigh Fletcher
- Outreach Co-ordinator, Joy Leckie
All three gave examples of integrating their research interests with outreach work, and showed how the impact of their academic work was enhanced by engagement with the public.
Gillian Johnstone also presented on the Mentoring@Strathclyde programme, which supports staff at all stages of their career to achieve their aspirations.
Talks were followed by a discussion session, where members of the audience raised issues such as how to balance outreach with all the other demands of academic life. Participants gave examples of how to truly integrate public engagement with research, with the associated benefits of enhancing Pathways to Impact statements required by funding councils. They also provided strong impact case studies for REF.
June 2014
In June 2014, to coincide with National Women in Engineering Day, the group organised an event for all female staff and PhD students in the University.
It was an opportunity for attendees to hear a range of female scientists and engineers speak about their STEM careers, and provide insight into some of the exciting career paths that STEM degrees can lead to.
Future events
Look out for further networking events the group will be organising throughout the coming year.