IDEK partners with Academianet to support Cyprus’ women researchers

The Research and Innovation Foundation (Idek) on Wednesday announced that it has concluded an agreement for its participation in the Academianet Network, with the aim of strengthening women’s activity in the Cypriot research sector and helping in their further development.

The agreement was signed this week by Idek general manager Theodoros Loukaidis and Jasmine Lorenzini, Head of the Gender Equality Office of SWISS National Science Foundation, who manages the Academianet database, in order to support and promote women researchers who work in Cyprus.

In the context of the initiative, the foundation has the role of the partner organisation and participates in a network of research agencies from all European countries.

At the same time, IDEK will be able to identify potential evaluators for the research proposals it receives.

The agreement gives the researchers the opportunity to network internationally, which is expected to benefit the Cypriot research community.

In addition, researchers will be able to benefit from sponsorships for networking activities provided by the network.

What is more, in the coming months, Idek will invite women researchers who meet the relevant criteria to express interest in joining the database by creating their own personal profiles in the Academianet database.

Academianet focuses on listing renowned women’s researchers. However, affiliated organisations can also indicate younger women, referred to as up-and-coming stars of tomorrow, that also fulfil the selection criteria.

The criteria for suggesting researchers are specified according to each affiliate organisation.

In the case of Idek, the criteria include women researchers who secured ERC Grant funding, coordinators of COST projects, women researchers who received Idek awards, women researchers who co-ordinated European projects, as well as women researchers who have previously coordinated Idek projects and whose selection followed the scientific evaluation.

It is worth noting that the Academianet initiative supports an international database with over 3,300 profiles of remarkable and renowned women researchers who mainly work in academia.

The initiative is non-profit and is provided free of charge to users and member organisations.

The project was first launched in 2010 by Robert Bosch Stiftung. Since 2020, the management of the Academianet database has been transferred to the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), which is in collaboration with SPEKTRUM DER WISSENSCHAFT (Springer Nature Group) and twenty other organisations from all over Europe.

Academianet is financed by supporting organizations such as the BC Royal Society, Spanish National Research Council and Danish National Research Foundation.