The University of Gdańsk is the only Polish institution honoured with the ‘EU Award for Gender Equality Champions’ for leaders in gender equality, awarded by the European Commission. The university was recognised in the Newcomer Gender Equality Champions category.
The European Commission has announced the winners of the third edition of the award for gender equality leaders in research and innovation, recognising their outstanding achievements in promoting gender equality in academic and research institutions. The University of Gdańsk was awarded in the Newcomer Gender Equality Champions category, which recognised organisations that have recently implemented their first Gender Equality Plan (GEP) and can demonstrate the greatest progress achieved through its implementation. On behalf of the University of Gdańsk, the award was collected during a gala held in Brussels by the Vice-Rector for Development and Finance, dr hab. Paweł Antonowicz, prof. UG, prof. dr hab. Ewa Łojkowska, dr hab. Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka, prof. UG and mgr Marta Dziedzic. The University of Gdańsk, like the winners in other categories, received a financial prize of 100,000 euros.
‘I am very happy that the activities we undertake at the University of Gdańsk for equality are also noticed and appreciated by the European Commission. One of the latest initiatives in this regard is my founding of the Joanna Schopenhauer Rector's Award, which is given to outstanding female professors who take the gender perspective of the research object into account in their research. Gender in research matters! Without understanding for others and openness, there can be no talk of the meaning of university education. Therefore, I would like to thank prof. Ewa Łojkowska and everyone who supports the activities of the Senate Commission for Social Responsibility, the Women's Club of the Fahrenheit University and every initiative thanks to which we can promote and implement activities for gender equality, and, hopefully, inspire other universities,’ says the Rector, prof. dr hab. Piotr Stepnowski.
As part of the Horizon Europe programme, the European Commission has made gender equality in research and innovation a priority, introducing enhanced measures to ensure its implementation. One of these is the requirement that all higher education institutions, research organisations and public bodies from EU member states and associated countries have a gender equality plan (GEP) as an eligibility criterion for participation in the framework programme.
The EU Award for Gender Equality Champions, an annual award starting in 2022, is an initiative of the European Commission to recognise and celebrate the outstanding achievements of European academic and research organisations that have implemented gender equality plans. The award complements the GEP eligibility criterion and serves as an incentive to develop inclusive gender equality plans and policies within the new European Research Area (ERA).
‘We are proud that the Commission has recognised our gender equality plan. We are the only university in the Central and Eastern European region to receive this award. We have been recognised for our efforts to increase the number of women in UG decision-making bodies and to promote research that takes into account the gender perspective of the research object. In particular, the ‘I include gender in research’ competition, which has been running at the University of Gdańsk for three years and is aimed at young researchers, has been highlighted. The plan for 2022-2023 was created by an interdisciplinary team and is aimed at all employees and students of the University of Gdańsk,’ says prof. dr hab. Ewa Łojkowska.
The award winners form a growing community of experts who inspire other academic and research organisations to become champions of gender equality themselves, and raise public awareness of the importance of gender equality in academic and research organisations through institutional change.
