Professor Julie McCann receives Suffrage Science Award

Professor Julie McCann, PETRAS Principal Investigator at Imperial has received a Suffrage Science Award alongside leading female mathematicians and computer scientists at the second Suffrage Science Awards for Mathematics and Computing held on 8 October 2018.

“Julie is nominated for her novel research on low-powered and sometimes self-managing sensing and control networks, collaborating with a wide range of companies and in diverse application domains such as smart water networks and environmental monitoring.  She leads numerous research projects and is a great role model for women in Computer Science.” Professor Muffy Calder, University of Glasgow.

A hundred years after the first women in Britain got the vote, women still only make up 23% of those working in core science, technology, engineering and mathematics occupations in the UK.

Solving the pipeline issue is a long-term challenge for maths and computing with female students making up only 15% of undergraduate computer science students and 37% of mathematical sciences students in 2016/17, compared to 61% of Biological Sciences students.[1]

On 8 October 2018, 11 scientists from across the UK were presented with hand-crafted jewellery at the Suffrage Science awards ceremony held at the British Library, London. The awards celebrate women in science and encourage others to enter science and reach senior leadership roles.

The 11 awardees are chosen by the previous award holders for their scientific achievements and ability to inspire others. The awards themselves are items of jewellery, inspired by the Suffrage movement, and are passed on as heirlooms from one female scientist to the next.

The Suffrage Science scheme was initiated by Professor Dame Amanda Fisher, Director of the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (MRC LMS) in 2011.

Amanda says “The creation of the Maths and Computing Suffrage Sciences Awards in 2016 recognised the increasing importance of mathematics and computing to the life sciences. As in all branches of the awards their purpose is to celebrate female scientists, their scientific achievements and ability to inspire others. This is especially important in maths and computing where female students studying these subjects are still in the minority. We are delighted to welcome this year’s awardees into the growing Suffrage Science community and look forward to supporting them to inspire the next generation.”

The 2018 award winners are:

Dr Ruth Keogh, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Dr Tereza Neocleous, University of Glasgow

Dr Nina Snaith, University of Bristol

Dr Daniela De Angelis, MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge

Dr Eugenie Hunsicker, Loughborough University

Professor Sally Fincher, University of Kent

Professor Julie McCann, Imperial College London

Professor Jane Hillston, University of Edinburgh

Professor Ursula Martin, University of Oxford

Dr Hannah Dee, University of Aberystwyth

Dr Vicky Neale, University of Oxford

[1] Data from HESA data and analysis of all students by subject area and sex, data referred to is percentage of female students who enrolled in the first year of their full-time first degree in the UK https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/what-study