TU Dublin wins European Award for Gender Equality in Technology
Computer Science academics at TU Dublin have just been announced as the winners of the Informatics Europe Equality Award for a range of gender equality initiatives and policies to develop the careers of female faculty staff.
Sponsored by Google, the award was presented at a special ceremony held in Rome on Tuesday 30th October, during the 15th European Computer Science Summit (ECSS 2019). Dr Deirdre Lillis, Head of Computer Science at TU Dublin, City Centre and Dr Susan McKeever, Senior Lecturer at TU Dublin, received the prize on behalf of TU Dublin and gave a presentation on the impact of the SUCCESS programme.
Dr Beate List from Google Research Labs, who sponsored the €5,000 prize said, "SUCCESS @ TU Dublin Computer Science project has done a magnificent job in increasing the number of female academic staff and supporting them to achieve their career goals in a supportive work environment".
“All the team in the School of Computer Science in TU Dublin, City Centre, men and women, have worked hard over the past decade to improve gender balance and inclusion in our Faculty", said Dr Deirdre Lillis, "and the Minerva Award is an incentive to redouble our efforts and continue our work. As the Irish poet, Augusta Gregory, once said: ‘She is a girl and would not be afraid to walk the whole world with herself.’ This is true of many females in the ICT profession, but it is time that journey is made easier."
"Accessible role models are critical to attracting the next generation of female Informatics students" said Dr Susan McKeever, who has led many of the School's gender initiatives, "and we will continue to work to ensure the success of our staff over the coming years in an academic and ICT sector that remains challenging for females”.
Previous winners of the award include University College London and the University of Bamberg in Germany.
About the Minerva Informatics Equality Award
The Minerva Informatics Equality Award, organised by Informatics Europe and sponsored by Google, recognises best practices in Departments or Faculties of European Universities and Research Labs that encourage and support the careers of women in Informatics research and education. On a three-year cycle, the award focuses each year on a different stage of the career pipeline: developing the careers of female faculty, supporting the transition for PhD and postdoctoral researchers into faculty positions, and encouraging female students to enrol in Computer Science/Informatics programmes and retaining them. The winners are selected by a prominent team of international experts in an evaluation process that run each year from May to August.
For more information, visit Minerva Informatics Equality Award and Women in Informatics Research and Education.
About Informatics Europe
Informatics Europe represents the academic and research community in Informatics (or Computer Science) in Europe. Bringing together university departments and research laboratories, it creates a strong voice to safeguard and shape quality research and education in Informatics. With around 140 member institutions across 31 countries, Informatics Europe promotes common positions and acts on common priorities. Visit www.informatics-europe.org to learn more.
