UCL awards for employment practice for women in science

UCL has received four Silver awards from the Athena SWAN Charter, which recognises and celebrates good employment practice for women working in science, engineering and technology in higher education and research. The UCL departments of Chemical Engineering; Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering; the MRC Laboratory for Molecular & Cell Biology; and the entire' Division of Psychology and Language Sciences have' received Silver awards in the 2009 round, representing a quarter of all awards made at this level (no gold awards were made this year).The submission for Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering was described by the judges as 'near perfect', and was particularly commended for the department's recruitment of a large cohort of early career women in 2004/05 who were starting to make their way into more senior positions. The judges were impressed with the comprehensive self-assessment process carried out by the MRC Laboratory for Molecular & Cell Biology, and the research initiated into the gender differences in obtaining grants and publication by the UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences - whose Silver award relates to action undertaken across all its departments. The judging panel was also pleased to see that undergraduate students had been involved in the preparation of the application made by UCL Chemical Engineering. UCL overall retains its Bronze Charter for the next three years.