Concurso Nacional de Videos Mujeres Chilenas en Ciencias awarded its first version winners in a beautiful ceremony. The event, organized by the Cedenna Nanotechnology Center, the Mathematical Modeling Center, the Chilean Academy of Sciences and the Ibero-American Network Of Academies of Ianas Sciences, was held at former National Congress.
The jury’s members Minister of Women and Gender Equality Claudia Pascual, Cedenna director Dora Altbir, CMM director Alejandro Jofré, the journalist Soledad Onetto, and Academia de Ciencias vicepresident Cecilia Hidalgo on behalf of María Teresa Ruiz, president of the institution led the ceremony. Explora director Natalia Mackenzie apologised her absence.
Pascual took the opportunity to launch Más mujeres en ciencia y tecnología campaign. The activity encourages female students to consider careers related to applied sciences, engineering and technology as an option beyond the stereotypes that prevent the entry of more women to these professional alternatives.
“We need to incorporate more spaces in which women have not been able to be: the scientific world; the one related to mining, forestry, fishing, technology, mechanics, metallurgy… they still are spaces tremendously masculine,” said the secretary of State.
And the winners are…
CMM researcher and contest organizer Patricio Felmer and journalist Soledad Onetto hosted the ceremony.
They are videos where girls and also children showed creativity and their ideas regarding the participation of women in science,” said Felmer.
Onetto highlighted the quality and creativity of the audiovisual works, especially, of the winners: “Today is your day. You have to enjoy it, because you are winners.”
For Dora Altbir, Cedenna director, this contest is important, “because Chile needs new scientists”.
In the School category, Dra. Lilian Jara con su proyecto marcadores genéticos para cáncer de mama was awarded first place. The video created by Belén Aguilera, Sofía López, Ana Laura Palma, and Lía Díaz, studentes at Liceo Rosa Ester Alessandri Rodríguez 5th and 6th grade.
“I owe a lot to this country. I always thought that I would like to work on something that had to do with my gender, with the children, and with what makes us to suffer,” told Jara. “Cancer, genetics and women were my passions and my questions. Finally, I found this path in a disease that is gender’s and a disease that has allowed me to be with our women in Chile: breast cancer “.
In second place in this category was the work Paola Cañón, by Sofia Bardi, Fiorella Ullrich and Romina Toro, students at Scuola Italiana Vittorio Montiglio 3rd grade of high school, who investigated the work of this PhD in molecular genetics and microbiology.
Honorable mention went to the audiovisual pieces Paulina Lira, mujer científica, by Cristian López, from Colegio Moderno Paine; Conociendo a una científica chilena, by Javiera Maldonado and Jorge Trigo, from Colegio Elvira Hurtado de Matte; Margaret Lengerich, by Sofía Castillo and Héctor Corvalán, from Colegio Antilhue de La Florida, and The big bang Maritza, by Diana Campos, Catalina Fuentes, Julián Muñoz and Axel Castro, Colegio Coya, from Machalí.
In the General Public category, the award went to the video Ciencia y aventuras en el mar, by Rolando Yáñez and César Villarroel, which shows the biologist Catalina Ruz’ work, won first place.
“We want to spread what we do scientists. I work in a laboratory, where it has been hard for us to obtain projects and funds. We carry out projects with reduced cost to carry out great knowledge. Chile is sea and is part of what needs to be taken care of,” said Ruz.
The second place, meanwhile, was for La importancia de lo pequeño, by Pablo Gutiérrez. This video emphasizes the contribution of the doctor in Physics María Luisa Cordero Garayar.
While Paulina Bahamonde, investigación e inspiración desde la Patagonia,, video the team led by Gustavo Chiang; Evolución tras los dientes,of the group headed by Alberto Gajardo; Granito de arena, sent by Luis Morgado and his group, and Maruja animada by Claudia Juárez, were distinguished with honorable mentions in this category.
