The Ninth Women and Science Week in Burgos tries to answer the question: And if Darwin had been a woman…

And if Darwin had been a woman… is the starting point for the ninth edition of Women and Science Week in Burgos, organized by the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) and the Universidad de Burgos (UBU) through their Scientific and Innovation Culture Units (UCC+i). A question which the numerous activities to be carried out to mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science will attempt to answer.

The Week starts on Monday 10th in Sala El Reloj at La Estación, at 6:45 pm, with a showing of Jane, a prize-winning documentary about Jane Goodall, which will be presented by José Mª Bermúdez de Castro, coordinator of the Paleobiology Program at CENIEH, who will tell the audience about the moments he spent in Atapuerca with the well-known British primatologist.

On Tuesday 11th, in the Live podcast: 3 generations debate, the Scientific disseminator Luis Quevedo will speak with three scientists at different stages of their professional careers, in Bar Matarile, at 7:30 pm. The participants will be Julia Arcos Martínez, professor at the Chemistry Department, and university ombudsman, at the UBU; Brixhilda Domi, Marie Curie ICCRAM researcher at the UBU, and Cecilia García Campos, researcher in the Dental Anthropology Group at the CENIEH.

Also in Sala El Reloj at La Estación, on Wednesday 12th, there will be a screening of a documentary, The enigma Agustina, premiered in 2018, which addresses the struggle of women to access scientific careers in Spain, and reclaims a few of the figures of Spanish science. It will be presented by Jordi Rovira Carballido, the Rector's representative for Communication, Research Dissemination and Fundraising.

The director of CENIEH, María Martinón-Torres, will be the moderator of the Round Table Teaching in the sciences and its impact on scientific careers, on Thursday 13th, at 7 pm, in the Conference Hall of CENIEH. The panelists for the Round Table will be: Bárbara de Aymerich Vadillo, associate professor at the Experimental Sciences Education Department (UBU), and director of the Young Scientists' School “Especiencia”; Montserrat Grañeras Pastrana, subdirectora general de Ordenación Académica, Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional; Ileana María Greca Dufranc, professor at the Specialist Teaching Department (UBU) and lead researcher for the project Botstem; Teresa Riesgo Alcaide, directora general de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, and María Vallet Regí, professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)

Educational workshops

The Week will close on 14th February with three workshops, aimed at girls aged 6 to 16, covering different topics: Robotinas, on learning to program robots; Playing with pipettes, on carrying out practical experiments, and Approaching programming, on talking with computers. It is possible to register for the workshops, which will take place from 5 to 8 pm, at: https://www.ubu.es/divulgacion-cientifica-ucci-ubu/vocaciones-cientificas

In parallel with the educational workshops, a talk will take place in the Clock Room at La Estación, directed at parents and educators, entitled Factors influencing participation; girls and women in STEM education, given by Ileana María Greca Dufranc, in two sessions: from 5:15 to 5:45 pm, and from 6:45 to 7:15 pm.