20 May 2010 | General
Gender Equality and Research Funding: the COST contribution
Dr Martin Grabert, Director of the COST Office, presented COST as a networking tool towards gender equality at the first GENDERA roundtable meeting held in Bratislava on 18 May 2010. COST - which is already a frontrunner in the ERA with 35% female participation in COST Actions - encourages further concrete steps to improve gender balance in the near future.
The roundtable gave participants and speakers the opportunity to share knowledge and exchange ideas. Participants welcomed the COST family-friendly policy and agreed that the policy could become even more effective if practical issues such as the eligibility of expenses were to be addressed by the European Member States.
GENDERA - an FP7 funded project - aims to re-address the balance of gender within research and higher education organisations across Europe. Its first roundtable addressed the problem of gender equality measures and showcased practices used by funding organisations across Europe. Thanks to this initiative, COST laid the foundations for further collaboration with some of the institutions present.
