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The Wonder of… Bluedot 2023!

By Dr Heather Williams / July 17, 2023

This year we return, again, to the Star Field overlooked by the Lovell Telescope for three days of chat, laughs, and interactive demos for all ages as part of Bluedot Festival. Our theme this year is “The Wonder Of…” On Friday, we will studying the “The Wonder of the Tiny” – looking at molecules and…

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Symmetries: A Zine about Science & The Arts

By Dr Heather Williams / June 21, 2018

Symmetries is a zine all about the interconnections between physics and the arts. As a full time physicist and part time illustrator, I have always been passionate about communicating the similarities between physics and the arts. Zines are typically small-circulation self-published works that convey a niche topic – I thought that a zine would be…

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The Unbreakable Bonds between Physics and The Arts

By Dr Heather Williams / June 17, 2018

It’s often thought that science and art are polar opposites. At school, the methodical way scientific subjects are taught couldn’t be more different from the teaching of creative subjects. In fact, it was back in school that I remember trying to work out if I was a “scientifically-minded” or “creatively-minded” person, convinced that I couldn’t…

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“Well behaved women seldom make history” – Jess Wade reports back on #ICWIP2017

By Dr Heather Williams / August 5, 2017

The International Conference on Women in Physics (ICWIP) is a triennial meeting that looks to “understand the severe under-representation of women worldwide and to develop strategies to increase their participation in physics”. The first was held in Paris in 2002 and 2017 marked its first return to Europe (while we’re still in Europe, I’m going…

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A stellar Starmus? Tanya Urrutia reports

By Dr Heather Williams / June 25, 2017

I am Tanya Urrutia, an astronomer at the Leibniz Institut fuer Astrophysik, in Potsdam, Germany. I work on the role of black holes and quasars in galaxy evolution. This week I attended Starmus IV in Trondheim, Norway. It is a festival celebrating astrophysical science and music and the role both of them play in society.…

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ScienceGrrl reviews: Inferior by Angela Saini

By Dr Heather Williams / June 14, 2017

When the Observer wanted a story on the origins of the menopause; it wasn’t exactly surprising that they asked a woman to research it.  What they may not have been anticipating was that instead, the author would become so fascinated by her findings that she would turn it into a book. Angela Saini is an…

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100 Years of the Medical Women’s Federation: The Past, Present and Future

By Dr Heather Williams / May 11, 2017

This week, we welcome Sarah McLoughlin of the Medical Women’s Federation, to tell us more about their work and events to mark their centenary next month: “Recently released stats by the GMC reveal that in 2017, 46% of registered doctors in the UK are now women and, with women also making up 55% of all…

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Raising Dauntless Daughters

By Dr Heather Williams / May 3, 2017

We’re tremendously excited to host this guest blog from Steph Green, founder of Dauntless Daughters. Steph lives in the West Midlands with her husband and two children, and believes the world would be a better place if we were surround by images and stories that showed our daughters how amazing women are. So she founded Dauntless Daughters, a…

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Tiring of Twenty

By Dr Heather Williams / March 30, 2017

For the past 30 years, girls have made up only 20 % of physics A-Level classrooms. Women make up only 9 % of professional engineers and only 11 % of physics professors. Dr Jess Wade reports back with some new, and very good news, from the launch of the Improving Gender Balance report from the Institute of…

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Send #WomenInSTEM around the globe

By Dr Heather Williams / February 10, 2017

To mark the UN International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we present <insert drum roll here> this guest blog from Alice Gray, science blogger, creator of Gray Matter and the driving force behind some limited edition goodies which are being sold in aid of ScienceGrrl: “You have brains in your head. You have feet…

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Reflections on #womensmarchlondon

By Dr Anna Zecharia / January 22, 2017

 On Saturday 21 January 2017 – the day after Donald Trump became President of the United States – hundreds of thousands of people across the globe stood up for women’s rights and equality. Our @annazecharia was at the London march. The photos which accompany this post are by Louise Morris. Find her as @LouMorrisPhoto on…

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Lancashire Science Festival – Draw a Scientist

By Dr Heather Williams / July 6, 2016

For the last 4 years, ScienceGrrl has been delighted to participate in Lancashire Science Festival at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) in Preston. The festival comprises talks, shows, and a packed show floor of exhibitors who showcase science to local school children over two days, and then to over 10,000 members of the public…

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What does a physicist look like?

By Dr Heather Williams / June 15, 2016

In April, the Institute of Physics (IoP) released the results of a survey of their membership, entitled ‘What does a Physicist Look Like?’ The results represent 13% of IoP members, which doesn’t sound like many, but interestingly the age profile mirrors the known profile of the membership. Even more interestingly, 44% of respondents were under 29…

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Create a step change – demand 50:50

By Dr Ellie Cosgrave / May 27, 2016

For decades the numbers of women in science and engineering professions have remained depressingly stagnant, with percentages hovering limply in the single figures. Despite significant investment in media campaigns, outreach activities, and educational programmes aimed at women- many are still scratching their head as to why nothing is changing. Although the reasons for under-representation are…

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Untold Stories – Setting the Record Straight

By Dr Heather Williams / May 11, 2016

Our network of ScienceGrrl members runs to over 400 nationwide. Where possible, we link our members with local chapters, headed up by enthusiastic chapter leads. Chapters provide opportunities for informal networking, peer support, and grass-roots activism and public engagement, often in partnership with local initiatives. This post is the second of a short series by…

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Returning to STEM – because science is for everybody

By Guest Blogger / April 16, 2016

This is a guest post by Gabriele Butkute, Science Policy Assistant at the Royal Society of Biology. In the midst of a skills shortage in STEM we need to look carefully for potential sources of talent. One of the potential options is to access and acknowledge those who for one reason or another have been…

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Meet Fatima: Stories of social exclusion & science

By Tania Browne / April 15, 2016

This week we at Science Grrl are delighted to bring you a guest post from Emily Dawson, on the particular issues for young women at the intersections of class and race.  What happens when being passionate about science isn’t enough to help you do science stuff? I first met Fatima in 2010 as part of…

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OtotheB : app for girls in STEM and entrepreneurship, brought to you by Stemettes

By Dr Heather Williams / April 6, 2016

Our sisters in STEM over at Stemettes have released a fab new app, OtotheB, designed to create a global online platform for girls interested in STEM and entrepreneurship. It is free to download from the Google Play and iTunes stores. It gives girls access to: “Motivation Mondays”: Access to exclusive interviews with inspiring women in STEM, and the chance to…

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Science, parenting, and resisting easy answers

By Dr Heather Williams / March 8, 2016

Today, to mark International Women’s Day, I took part in an event organised by the University of Manchester’s Faculty of Life Sciences entitled “Becoming the Best”. I joined a panel discussion in which 5 women with STEM degrees talked about their career paths and what had helped them along the way, then took questions from the…

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Alison Diaper – on Brain Stimulation and True Inspiration

By Dr Heather Williams / March 2, 2016

Alison Diaper is at the forefront of the NHS, quietly but confidently working behind the scene to improve our scientific knowledge. She is studying a range of drugs including hypnotics, anxiety inhibitors, antidepressants and drugs that inhibit pain. She is also working to improve deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapies and systems.  In this interview with ScienceGrrl’s Jessica Simpson, Alison takes some…

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