The meeting of the PhD students for 2021 was organized on 8th and 9th March and was held entirely online. The formal introduction by the coordinating team was followed by a 4-hour workshop hosted by reputed cultural and political scientist Deborah Ruggieri, under the theme “Why gender matters in science: a beneficial approach”. An increasingly important topic in science and academia, gender equality has also become one of the most talked-about topics in academic circles in the recent past. It is therefore not only important to talk about it, but also important to give proper knowledge about it to future scientists. During the four hours of the workshop, a good understanding of what gender equality is in the context of academics and research groups was given to the participants and topics like why gender equality matters, and how it can increase productivity within the groups, and how to achieve it without losing sight of the big picture were also tackled. 

The participants were also given an insight into how mixed gender groups are more solution oriented, more innovative and more productive. As a relized concept, the "Gender Summit"; a European project of scientists, scholars, and policy makers in science who research and talk about the impact of gender equality and social inclusion on the development of academia, was discussed in detail.

The workshop was followed by a two-hour presentation session by individual research groups to give an update about their respective projects to their colleagues. This was done in the interest of keeping everyone updated about the current status of the projects and to encourage an exchange of ideas within the groups. Each group presented their work in a 10minute presentation, followed by a 10minute question and answer session.