CaixaForum Madrid celebrates International Day of Women and Girls in Science with an inspirational monologue by Helena González-Burón
The "la Caixa" Foundation joins once again this year in celebrating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February, promoted by the United Nations General Assembly. For the occasion, the "la Caixa" Foundation has programmed a series of free conferences in monologue format that will take place on 11 February at 7 p.m. simultaneously at CosmoCaixa and at seven of the CaixaForum cultural centres in Spain. The aim of this initiative, carried out in collaboration with the Big Van Science collective and the 11february Initiative, is to give visibility to the work of women scientists and promote gender equality in the scientific-technological field.
With an agile and entertaining format, the conferences hosted by the CaixaForum and CosmoCaixa network will feature women who will share their careers in the field of science and explain the key aspects of their speciality. In addition, the public will have the opportunity to participate by putting forward their ideas on how to improve the role of women in science, or by contributing their vision of the scientific field of each conference.
With an agile and entertaining format, the conferences hosted by the CaixaForum and CosmoCaixa network will feature women who will share their careers in the field of science and explain the key aspects of their speciality. In addition, the public will have the opportunity to participate by putting forward their ideas on how to improve the role of women in science, or by contributing their vision of the scientific field of each conference.
At CaixaForum Madrid the session will be given by Helena González-Burón, PhD in Biomedicine, who specialises in the study of the human genome. Helena González-Burón is an expert in educational innovation, a writer of popular science books for children and young people, and a contributor to Órbita Laika (La2), Aprendemos en Clan (ClanTV), Julia en La Onda (Onda 0) and National Geographic (RBA), among others. With their contributions, the public will be able to discover the human genome and the advances that new research techniques can provide in a fun and entertaining way.
In the talk Genes: uncomfortable readings, Dr. Helena González-Burón will talk about how the technology for sequencing and extracting information from DNA has undergone exponential development in recent years. A simple glance at genetic material can reveal many characteristics about an individual. The conference will ask questions such as: Where is the limit of knowledge? If we study our own genetic material, are there things we would rather not know? And if we study other people's, are there things we should not know?
The "la Caixa" Foundation will celebrate this day simultaneously at CaixaForum Madrid, at six of its CaixaForum centres around the country and at CosmoCaixa Barcelona. CosmoCaixa will host the talk Brain exploration with...graphene? with Doctor in Chemistry Elisabet Prats Alfonso; CaixaForum Girona, Radares que no ponen multas, by telecommunications engineer Alejandra Garrido Atienza; CaixaForum Tarragona Un hallazgo casual que salva vidas, by researcher specialising in the field of anti-tumour immunotherapy Marta Corral Pujol; CaixaForum Lleida Un guiño a la ELA, by Chiara Rossi, a specialist in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; CaixaForum Sevilla Plants with superpowers, by the specialist in Molecular Biology of plants Inés García Fernández; CaixaForum Palma Life is shit, by the biologist specialising in zoology Eva María Cuesta Moreno; and finally CaixaForum Zaragoza Wonderful bacteria that improve our world, by the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Raquel Virto Resano.
In 2015 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 11 February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and since then the "la Caixa" Foundation has joined this initiative by promoting various activities. The United Nations is certain that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls will contribute decisively to the economic, technological and scientific development of the world. The intention of celebrating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science is to highlight the contribution of women in the field of science and technology, and at the same time to encourage girls and young women to undertake scientific studies and careers by showcasing women who are role models.
Big Van Science is a collective of scientists that helps to spread the goals of the 11 February initiative. Using humour and with a team made up of professional researchers from a wide range of scientific and technological disciplines, Big Van Ciencia brings cutting-edge science to all audiences in an accessible and fun way. Since 2013, the collective has participated in radio and television programmes, published books and created shows and workshops throughout Europe and Latin America.
