The International Day of Women and Girls in Science celebrated at IMCB

Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology includes a lot of active and phenomenal women scientists! We celebrated the International Day of Women in Science also in 2021:

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The Vice Director of IMCB, Margus Leppik, says that the institute's women scientists are the institute's hardware, without which a modern research institution can no longer be imagined. "The Institute highly values the daily contribution of our female colleagues to research, teaching and administrative work. The traditional family model requires women to make a much greater contribution in order to compete with their male colleagues. However, we see that their contribution to science is increasing year by year," says Leppik.
Professor Tiina Tamm, Head of the Chair of Molecular Biology, adds that it is a real pleasure to find out things that no one has been able or wanted to find out before. "Science is a way of life that allows us to contribute to the comprehensive development of society, regardless of gender or age," says Professor Tamm.

According to Ester Oras, Associate Professor of Archaeology and of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Tartu, Vice President of the Estonian Youth Academy of Sciences, when the day was celebrated for the first time in Estonia last year, the aim was to focus on female scientists more generally. Now, however, it is time to take steps to raise awareness of the work and concerns of women scientists. “We would like to draw attention to the topics that female scientists are facing every day: for example, the pay gap or the gender-stereotyped role expectations,” said Oras.

A short video displaying gender comparison of professors and students at the University of Tartu in 2019-2021 (in Estonian).

The Day of Women in Science is held in Estonia for the second time. Internationally, the Day of Women and Girls in Science is led by UNESCO and UN Women, the UN entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women. The UNESCO events this year are focused on the importance of women in the response to the corona crisis.

From 3 February to 17 March, young female scientists of the Baltic countries are invited to apply for the reputable L'Oréal–UNESCO For Women in Science programme. Seven 6000-euro fellowships will be awarded to outstanding female researchers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In addition, one person from each Baltic country will be nominated for the L’Oréal–UNESCO International Rising Talent grant competition.

When writing about the Day of Women in Science on social media, use hashtags #naisedteaduses and #WomenInScience.

Press release on the webpage of University of Tartu.

"Women in Science" on United Nations webpage.