Aiming to visualize and promote the contribution and work of Chilean scientists, the second version of the Mujeres Chilenas en Ciencias (Chilean Women in Science) Video Contest was lauched.
The contest is organized by Academia Chilena de Ciencias, the Center the Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at Universidad de Santiago (Cedenna), the Center for Mathematical Modeling at Universidad de Chile (CMM) and the Inter-American Network of Scientific Academies lANAS. In addition, Explora-Conicyt Program and the Ministry of Women and Gender Equity support the activity.
The vice minister Bernarda Pérez emphasized the need to end gender bias in the knowledge creation: “It is fundamental for Chile, for economic growth and for scientific innovation, more women specialize in science, engineering and technology. They can make a career in these areas and contribute with their skills and knowledge”.
For Cecilia Hidalgo, Academia Chilena de Ciencias vice president and National Prize of Natural Sciences 2006, “our country can not afford to lose the talent of more than 50 percent of the population”. Mainly, with the current rhythm of growth and technological development.
Cedenna’s director, Dora Altbir, spoke about the scope of the initiative: “We like to make this contest for two reasons: we believe it contributes to the knowledge of the work of those who have contributed to the knowledge and developmentof our country from science; and because we believe it can be a gateway to marvel at scientific discoveries, to look at nature and, perhaps, to awaken a new vocation for many students.”
For Iván Rapaport, CMM researcher, the challenge is to open new doors for women and for all the members of the society: “Why do we have to spread the stories of women scientists? The answer is quite simple: because, unfortunately, there are old injustices and problems that should have been solved long ago. Nevertheless, they continue existing in the 21st century. One of these problems is stereotypes. In particular, stereotypes of women. “
Pioneer competition
The contest seeks the participants portray the life and work of Chilean female scientists in an unpublished audiovisual piece of 1 to 3 minutes. There are two categories: one aimed at the general public and another aimed at schoolchildren.
The videos can belong to any genre, so that the filmmakers can present video clips, interviews, animations, recreations, documentaries, TV notes or other formats that comply with the bases published on the contest website.
The members of the jury are minister of the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality Claudia Pascual Grau, the journalist Soledad Onetto González, phe president of the Chilean Academy of Sciences María Teresa Ruiz González Explora-Conicyt program director Natalia Mackenzie Felsenhardt, CMM director Alejandro Jofré Cáceres, and Cedenna director Dora Altbir Drullinsky.
Applications are open until August 24 on the platform www.cientificaschilenas.cl.
