NORNDIP, the Annual Conference of the Nordic Network for Diversity in Physics, took place at the University of Bergen, Norway, in May 2024. See:  https://indico.cern.ch/event/1384666/overview

These conferences typically have a balanced mixture of invited physics talks and gender talks. Gender talks cover gender-balance reports from Nordic Countries. Each conference has a special leading theme, in 2024 the theme was "Microaggression", the leading  theme of the 2025 conference will be "Diverse trajectories - Challenging the norms in physics research and culture”.

Below, a short report from the leading themes of gender-talks. Adrienne Taxler reported on quantitative studies of barriers to diversity in physics in academia, quoting sexual harassment, hostile climate, microaggressions as often quoted problems. Randi Gressgård reported on her studies of microaggressions in academic institutions, noting that people of color and women are often subtly marked as intruders even by  persons with good intentions.

According to studies, women and minority people are assumed to be inferior or more junior in rank than they actually are, through little encounters signalling lack of competence, skill or intelligence. Every female professor I know was asked at least once "Are you a student here?" during her professorship career, and not because of her young looks. It is because only ‘When you look like what they expect a professor to be, you are treated like a professor’. Siri Øyslebø Sørensen  and Eva Amundsdotter reported on the project GenderAct, an institutional project running at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the University of Bergen, Norway.

The gender (in) balance at  the Faculty is stable for the last 20 years. The project had as a first part a task to understand the complicated causes of gender imbalance in this specific environment,  then mobilize for change and transform patterns as the last step. During this process it was learned that resistance towards the topic of gender as such is  common in academic institutions. This resistance takes forms of gender hostility - discomfort associated with becoming aware/ conscious and gender blindness - strong belief in meritocracy as neutral. There is a resistance to change and transform gendered patterns that takes forms of undermining, distracting attention, pretending,  sabotage,  avoidance,  disclaiming. The practical forms of resistance observed for this particular project  in interaction with leaders of the departments were:  no open reactions, just ‘whispering in the hallways’, action plan is approved, but not followed up on, open critique in plenary meeting.

The next phase of the GenderAct project will study the resistance to change, and how to deal with it. The most optimistic report was by Maria Saline, a coordinator of Gender Initiative for Excellence, GENIE at Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden. The project seems to be on a good way to reverse barriers to female faculty hiring and retention by investing in excellent hires.

Authors: Riccardo Muolo & Gina Gunaratnam

In 2024, the EPS released a calendar of "Inspiring Physicists". Read the interview of Riccardo Muolo, postdoctoral researcher at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan. He wrote the editorial of the calendar, together with Lorena Ballesteros Ferraz and Sébastien Mouchet. They also published an opinion letter about the Matilda Effect in the Society's magazine EPN.

How did you get to know the European Physical Society?

Some colleagues in Namur, Belgium, told me about the society and its monthly magazine, so I checked it out and I was impressed by all the initiatives regarding outreach and education.

Could you describe your current field of research in a few words?

My field is complex systems, at the edge between physics and applied mathematics. More specifically, I study the emergence of collective behaviors, such as synchronization, in an ensemble of elementary units. They way in which such units interact with each other shapes the collective dynamics, which is way richer than the individual ones. The whole is much more than the sum of its parts.

What are the challenges of your field?

Until now, we have developed solid theoretical tools, but what is missing is a bridge towards observations and experiments. There are some models with many variables claiming that they explain certain phenomena, but to me they don’t make much sense because they work only for a specific phenomenon with variables and parameters chosen ad hoc. I think the main challenge now is to build models closer to reality that are still meaningful and can help us not only explain, but also understand, what we observe.

How would you encourage students to work in this field?

Be curious. The field of complex systems is intrinsically interdisciplinary and gives the chance to work with researchers from many different fields. Besides the technical skills that are required to carry out any research in physics and mathematics, in complex systems the key is to be curious and open minded: one has to be able to communicate with scientists from sociology to biology, meaning that we need to understand different approaches and ways to treat problems. It can be hard at first, but in the end it is so rewarding. Interdisciplinary research is very exciting!

Why is it important for you to encourage girls to study physics?

I think that we need science to reflect the composition of society. So this is related to have more girls in physics, but in general to have a more diverse and heterogeneous environment. This mainly for two reasons. First, because only a truly diverse environment can foster new ideas and tackle the many challenges ahead of us. If we put in a room only people with the same mentality and background, we are missing a whole lot of perspective. Second, because, whether we like it or not, science, and physics in particular, is a tool of power. Our research shapes the future in good and in bad, and our discoveries have a tremendous impact on society. Given its importance, we need everybody at the table and we must keep it democratic and transparent as much as possible.

Short Bio

I studied physics (Bachelor) and applied mathematics (Master) in Florence, Italy. For a year, I was PhD student of biology at the VU Amsterdam, The Netherlands, but then moved back to mathematics starting a PhD in Namur, Belgium. After my graduation, I moved to Tokyo for a postdoc, position that I currently hold.

Besides my academic activity, I’m involved in an outreach project in Italy called “Penne Amiche della Scienza” (the Italian version of the US Letters to a Pre-scientist) in which we connect a scientist with a primary or middle school class and have them write letters to each other.

FLTR: Monika Ritsche-Martke, Petra Rudolf and Ilaria Zardo - image credit: Gina Gunaratnam

Petra Rudolf, chair of the EPS Equal Opportunities Committee, and Gina Gunaratnam, EPS communication coordinator, interviewed Ilaria Zardo [IZ], from the Department of Physics, University of Basel (CH), and Monika Ritsch-Marte [MRM], from the of the Institute of Biomedical Physics, Dept. of Physiology & Medical Physics, Medical University of Innsbruck (AT). They are laureates of the EPS Emmy Noether Distinction 2022.

Why did you choose physics?

IZ: I was interested in Greek, Latin and Philosophy. When I told my parents I wanted to study physics, it was a big surprise. Especially to my father who wondered why I had studied all these subjects to "end up" with sports (in Italian "physics" and "sports" is the same word).

MRM: I wanted to find a position in relation to Nature. I come from an academic family, so they encouraged me. But outside, I didn't get positive reactions. After having attended the Open Days in Innsbruck, I knew that I wanted to get a master's degree in sciences.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your career and what difficulties did you encounter?

MRM: It is nice to have recognition from the community but the most rewarding is when I do active research, when I get results and I understand things from Nature.

In the 80s', women had to face difficult times. There were aggressive attitudes.  My younger brother and my husband are also scientists and they were offered positions while I didn't get one.

IZ: The most rewarding is when I first finish a project. When I realise that I found something. When I have gone through all the paths to get where I want to go and I reach it, this is a rewarding moment. It is also beautiful to see the same way of thinking/development in people you work with.

Difficulties: We are trained to be scientists but not to deal with people. You have a strong contact with your colleagues. You need trust and faith. This is very challenging.

Recommendations to encourage diversity

IZ: I am extremely happy to have a very diverse group: different countries, different backgrounds. I was motivated by a colleague who told me that you gain much more from someone who is different from you, who will have another approach to a problem.

MRM: Quotas are important to get women involved [in research groups] and I don't care about being called "Quotenfrau" ("quota woman" in German). It shouldn't be the aim but is a necessary measure to have more women. If they can do the job, they should be given the chance. 

Career and family

MRM: I married a colleague! So there was competition between us. It is difficult to get everything you want once you have a family. I consider it a "fermionic principle ": either you choose the field of research you are interested or the place where you want to live. You cannot have the two at the same time. My advice: be determined but flexible. And ask yourself the following: What is something I cannot live without?

In my case, I changed fields: from theoretical physics, I switched to medical physics.

IZ: "I am not a hero!" I have three children and my husband is also a physicist working in industry. I would advise to not pay attention to judgement. When asked about children, you can answer that your husband is never asked about them.

More info

• EPS Emmy Noether Distinction
  
• EPS Emmy Noether Distinction 2022 for Ilaria Zardo and Monika Ritsch-Marte
• Monika Ritsch-Marte Research Group
  
• Ilaria Zardo Research Group and  announce on the website nanoscience.unibas.ch