Women in BioCop

Women are directly involved at all levels of the BioCop project. Of the 116 BioCop participants, 53 are women (46%), exceeding the 40% target set by the European Commission for women’s representation in research.  BioCop aims to maintain this high percentage of women researchers and, based on fair employment procedures, endeavours to increase this percentage.

An analysis of the women scientists directly involved in the BioCop project has been performed and the anticipated involvement is as follows:

Experienced researchers - 40%

Early researchers - 60% (less than 4 years after graduation) 
                                                     
Early researchers are classified as those who have been engaged in research for less than four years after obtaining their primary degree, covering all categories of scientists working on the BioCop project. Given the higher percentage of early researchers in this project, implementation of encouraging women scientists to enter into chemical contaminant monitoring research looks promising. Moreover, when this data is compared to the two fields in which BioCop’s participants work, 24% of researchers in natural sciences and 33% of researchers in agricultural science in the EU are women. The higher than average percentage of women researchers in BioCop shows the commitment of partners to the encouragement of women’s participation in research.
 
Contact Person - Dr. Chen Situ, Queen’s University Belfast.