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Celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science!

Today we celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Did you know that according to 2019 Eurostat data, Czechia had the lowest proportion of female researchers among all Member States of the European Union – only 27.2%? Today, we want to celebrate all female scientists around the world and encourage all women to consider the scientific path. Get inspired by our very own female scientists in our IRTIS team!

11 Feb 2023 Michaela Lebedíková

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The International Day of Women and Girls in Science was established by the United Nations to promote the full and equal access – and participation – of women in scientific fields. Each year we celebrate successful female scientists and encourage all women to participate in science.

According to the Centre for Gender and Science (NKC), there is a lack of opportunities in Czech research for qualified women. That means we are "needlessly missing out on the potential that would move us forward as a society" (NKC). The Centre for Gender and Science points out that while in 2020 a total of 118 044 people worked in research and development, only 36 191 of them were women. In an international context, the proportion of women in science in Czechia is among the lowest in all European Union countries, and unfortunately, it has been at the lowest since 2000.

At IRTIS, we are proud to advocate for diversity and equality among our team members, of whom many are women. To celebrate – and inspire – girls and women all around the world, I decided to ask our female team members why they love what they do!

What do you like about science? Why did you consider this career path? What excites you about your job?

“I like the possibility of combining it with psychology. For a long time, psychology has been approached more in an intuitive or casuistic way, and I love that we can now test whether or not different theories and ideas are supported by data. A lot of people are surprised that it is possible to calculate, for example, how reliable a psychological test is, and I am happy that this is becoming a more and more common practice.”

Michaela Geržičáková Michaela Geržičáková
junior scientist

“I like to learn something new every time, to solve interesting, non-standard tasks.”

Olena Sobolieva-Tereshchenko Olena Sobolieva-Tereshchenko
postdoc

“I love contributing to the knowledge base of how social media impact young people’s well-being. I enjoy every part of the process, from conceptualizing and planning the studies to interpreting the data and writing papers. Above all, I appreciate working on these projects with my talented and inspiring colleagues from whom I constantly learn new things and draw novel insights.”

Nikol Kvardová Nikol Kvardová
junior scientist

“I love how sometimes you come up with the idea for the next research question or the next step in whatever you're doing in the middle of a random conversation with your colleague, and suddenly, you feel that wave of eager energy when you realize that you can actually do that and it makes sense. And I thoroughly enjoy that these moments often surround the tiniest, nerdiest things, like figuring out better wording for a single item in your 150-items survey or cracking that one sentence in your abstract that no one really cares for anyway. As silly as it sounds, I love that science allows me to embrace my nerdiness and surround myself with people who understand it and find it joyful, too.”

Lenka Dědková Lenka Dědková
postoc and team management member

“I love the feeling that my work can at least with a small piece contribute to something bigger - a complex, deeper understanding of social world around us. It makes me more confident about what's going on around me and helps me to think about things from different angles that wouldn't come to my mind in normal life. I love thinking about what I'm researching and also the moments when I come up with something interesting, even unexpected, that I can then pass on. I also like to travel, meet new people and spread the scientific passion further.”

Jana Blahošová Jana Blahošová
junior scientist

“Diversity, equality and inclusion matters. I am proud to contribute and make a difference as a researcher.”

Hayriye Gülec Hayriye Gülec
postdoc

“Being a scientist offers me the opportunity to do diverse, meaningful work. I find it particularly fulfilling to popularize scientific knowledge or mentor students.”

Natálie Terčová Natálie Terčová
junior scientist

“We are either ignorant of or unaware of numerous fascinating things that are happening all around us. I aspired to become a scientist, as I wanted to change the state of "not knowing" to some extent and tried to contribute to society by promoting the culture of "scientific curiosity."”

Shanu Shukla Shanu Shukla
postdoc

“It is fulfilling to be doing work that can be beneficial, on many levels. It is also great to cooperate with so many talented, enthusiastic, and also friendly people. And even though the whole job is far from perfect, it is simply the best.”

Hana Macháčková Hana Macháčková
associate professor and team management member

“Working in science gave me the opportunity to do what I enjoy and not just what had been expected of me. My work is very colourful as I get to learn and develop a variety of different skills. I have the opportunity to travel the world, meet inspiring people, and be more curious about the world around me. I am grateful to all the scientists before me, who made this possible for women and girls, and generally for people with any background. I hope this will one day be possible for everyone and in all parts of the world.”

Marie Bedrošová Marie Bedrošová
postdoc

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