Athena Swan Bronze Award- Department of Biology

Claire McGing, Athena SWAN Project Officer, Maynooth University, Professor Paul Moynagh, Department of Biology and Dr Karen English, Chair of the Biology self-assessment team

The Department of Biology has achieved an Athena SWAN Bronze Award, which recognises work undertaken to advance gender equality for staff and students at departmental level.

Biology is the first department at Maynooth University to apply for, and achieve, Athena SWAN accreditation, which is overseen by Advance HE.

The 39 items in the Biology action plan include:

> Establishing a voluntary mentoring programme for all academic and research staff, with a specific focus on women’s careers.

> Embedding gender equality issues into the Department’s Quality

Assurance and Quality Enhancement processes.

> Hosting an annual Phyllis Clinch Lecture to further enhance the visibility of women role models in the global discipline of Biology.

> Amending the annual PhD progress review to include sections on work-life balance and career development.

> The Department of Biology also will seek to align departmental, institutional and sectoral work on the advancement of gender equality in STEM.

The Biology self-assessment team (SAT) includes representation from academic, research, administrative and technical staff, and postgraduate and undergraduate students.