SBA @ Conference on Excellent research requires the right framework
In mid-May, Jeanine Lefèvre, head of Office of Equal Opportunities at SBA Research, attended the important Viennese conference on Excellent research requires the right framework which set the tone for non-discriminatory research. Around 80 experts in science, politics, and gender equality came together to discuss strategies for combatting discrimination, sexualised harassment and violence in research.
© Niklas Schnaubelt
How can research become safer? The conference made it clear that concrete structures, binding standards and independent, trustworthy contact points are needed, as well as awareness of the problem. There must also be an organisational culture in which the handling of power and responsibility is reflected, and in which trained managers are aware of their responsibilities.
These topics also play an important role in SBA Research’s organisational development and are addressed accordingly in the Fem4CyberSec project and the Gender Equality Plan. The fruitful conference discussions on this issue reinforces our efforts.
Keynote speeches from the ministries (BMFWF and BMIMI) on the context and problems and the Uni-SAFE project presentation provided deeper insight into that topic. Later, suggestions for strategies and solutions were offered by the FWF, the University of Vienna and a violence prevention expert.
The conference was organized by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and TU Wien, and was supported by genderAG. GenderAG was established in 2007 and represents an association of gender equality policy stakeholders including FWF, FFG, TU Wien, ISTA, AIT, ACR and the Vienna Business Agency.