Legal arrangements for work-life balance measures in Romania

What are the provisions of the Romanian labour law regarding the balance between professional and personal life? Are Romanian labour law provisions harmonized with the European standards in the field? What regulations are foreseen in the other EU countries' labour laws?

Dr. Snejana Sulima (Faculty of Law) answers these questions that were asked many times by young researchers from UAIC who are interested in the possible arrangements for a better balance between the demands of their professional work and personal life (read more).

Career and professional development in science

How could be managed the process of career development from the early stages until the high level performance achievement?

Prof. univ. dr. Adriana Prodan, from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, highlights some relevant aspects of Career and professional development in science (pdf).

Practical Hints for Success in Science. Success or value?

How could be built a successful career in science?

Prof. univ. dr. Liliana Mitoșeriu, from the Faculty of Physics, who has an outstanding career in science and at the same time is an appreciated model for young women researchers from the team she leads, shares advises based on her precious experience (pdf).

"Gender Equality in Science" as a Doctoral Theme at the UAIC

15 June 2013. For the first time in a Romanian University, the theme "Gender Equality in Science" is proposed for the PhD studies in the competition call for the admission session September 2013 of the UAIC's Doctoral School. Prof. dr. Doina Balahur, scientific coordinator for PhD in Sociology at the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, announced the topics and the bibliography on "Gender, Career and Performance in Scientific Research" and "Structural Transformations in Universities and Research Institutes for Achieving Gender Equality in Science". The research on these themes will be carried out in cooperation with the FP7 European project STAGES at the UAIC. (link).

Post-doctoral grants for specialization in Gender Equality in Science

Within the framework of the STAGES project at the UAIC 2 post-doctoral grants for young researchers have been publicly announced for open competition. These positions are expected to support the specialization in Gender Equality in Science for two scholars who have recently obtained their PhD in sociology (more).

On “For Women in Science” grants offered by UNESCO - L’Oréal

An interview with Dr. Alina Ghineț, laureate of UNESCO - L’Oréal grant

The international programme “For Women in Science”, based on the collaboration between UNESCO and L’Oréal, offers grants and awards to exceptional women scientists in the field of life sciences around the globe. Founded in 1998 on the premise that ‘the world needs science and science needs women’, the programme is designed to promote a greater participation of women in science, by recognising their contributions and awarding promising women scientists with fellowships to help them further their research. Since 2009 the programme is also functional in Romania and offers national grants for the young researchers under 35 years old, who are either PhD candidates or post-doctoral fellows in a Romanian university. More information about the 5th edition of this programme in Romania read on cnr-unesco.ro.
One of the Romanian laureate of the grants UNESCO-L’Oréal is Dr. Alina Ghineț, who studied at the Faculty of Chemistry of the UAIC, where she has obtained her BS and MA degrees and then continued PhD studies in Medicinal Chemistry at the Lille University from France. Recently, she was also awarded by the UAIC- STAGES project within the European Women Researchers Day. On this occasion, Dr. Alina Ghineț gave us an interview about her remarkable achievements and the importance of the grants UNESCO-L’Oréal in the professional development of young researchers’ career.

You are among the first Romanian young researchers who won, in 2009, the UNESCO - L’Oréal grant “For Women in Science” , even before these international grants to have been introduced in Romania like in many other countries, thus making it accessible to young women researchers working in Romanian research institutions. In Romania, the first edition has been launched in 2009, and the first grant winner was announced in 2010. How was it possible that your name to be among the 2009 French laureates (as one could read on the Wikipedia (site)?

Indeed, I am the laureate of the UNESCO - L’Oréal prize “For women in science”, that I have received in November 2009 in France. I had the opportunity to apply to this program because I did my PhD in a French institution, at Lille 2 University of Law and Health and at Engineer School HEI. I take this opportunity to remind all young Romanian students who complete their PhD theses in France that there is no nationality requirement for applying to France UNESCO - L’Oréal prize “For Women in Science”. They have to be enrolled in a French doctoral school and realize their research in a French research laboratory. However, remarkable and high quality PhD results are appreciated. In my case, the jury appreciated the dynamism, the scientific results issued from my PhD project and my double Romanian and French culture.

What was the role of this grant in your professional career development and also in your personal life, that is in your biography?

Indeed, this award has given me a lot of good things both at professional and personal levels: the recognition of my research work and the work of the entire research team, the opportunity to organize an international scientific event, international visibility, new scientific collaborations and thus, it increased my chances to obtain new funding for my research in the field of cancer therapy. Also, I have to recognize that this grant was a career accelerator for me.

You have decided to use a part of the grant fund for organizing a newly set up scientific event on the benefit of the UAIC, namely the Franch-Romanian Colloquium on Medicinal Chemistry (whose 1st edition took place on the 7-8th October 2010 at the UAIC). What considerations have determined your decision?

Effectively, I did not hesitate and decided to use my grant fund for organizing the 1st Edition of the French-Romanian Colloquium on Medicinal Chemistry, at “Al. I. Cuza” University in Iasi. The absence of international events within the Faculty of Chemistry where I obtained my bachelor and master degrees and the fact that this faculty has bright young researchers gave me the idea of organizing this kind of international colloquium. Of course, my wish was to organize a unrestricted colloquium bringing together young and senior researchers from several disciplines such as chemistry, biology, medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, medicine,... in order to cover drug discovery advances in the major therapeutic areas.

The first edition took place in October 2010. At that time, several recognized researchers from French and Romanian academia and industry have supported me and came to Iasi to expose their research work. The success of the first edition led us to organize the 2nd edition of the French-Romanian Colloquium on Medicinal Chemistry in October 2012 (researchers of seven different nationalities were present in Iasi and once again, the event was a success). Our colloquium becomes one of the key events of the Faculty of Chemistry and the 3rd Edition will be held again this year on October, 30-31. A future edition is envisaged and will be probably held in France.

What good advices would you give for your colleagues, young female researchers from the UAIC, who want to apply for this grants competition which is now, in 2014, at the 5th edition in Romania?

Above all, do not hesitate! You have to apply for this grant! This is a unique opportunity for young researchers wishing to pursue prodigious scientific careers. As you know, communication and results dissemination are fundamental conditions in our research domains. This award can accelerate your career.

Research Grants for Romanian Researchers offered by the Humboldt Foundation

The research programmes and grants offered by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany) for the Romanian academics and researchers have been presented at the UAIC by Ruxandra Cosma, associate professor at the University of Bucharest, scientific ambassador of the Humboldt Foundation for Romania. The goal of the Humboldt research stages is to stimulate the excellence in research and to set up research networks involving researchers and academics, post-doctoral fellows and PhD candidates who are in the final stage of their PhD thesis preparation. It is noteworthy that women are encouraged to apply for the Humboldt grants being notorious the fact that the Humboldt Foundation campaigns for equal opportunities for men and women in research, particularly with regard to young families. (More details here).

Dr. Emilia Moroșan - a successful scientific career in USA

Dr. Emilia Moroșan is one of the numerous young women researchers who started their scientific formation at the UAIC and then developed a successful scientific career abroad. After graduating with a BS in Physics from the UAIC in 1999, she got her PhD in Physics from Iowa State University (USA) in 2005, and then moved on to a postdoctoral position at Princeton University. Today, Emilia Morosan is an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy, and Chemistry at Rice University (USA). Prof. Moroșan’s research focuses on materials design and discovery, with particular interests in itinerant magnetism, superconductivity, heavy fermions and quantum criticality. For her scientific activity, she received several early career awards, including the ORAU Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientist and Engineers (PECASE), offered by the USA President Barack Obama, and the NSF CAREER. Invited to give a conference on her current research, Dr. Moroșan had also a meeting with young researchers, PhD and MA students from Physics Department of the UAIC, who were interested to learn more about her road to success in science.

The Fulbright Senior Postdoctoral Program for Visiting Scholars 2015-2016

The Romanian-U.S. Fulbright Commission announces the annual competition for Fulbright Senior Postdoctoral Awards for Romanian professors, researchers and professionals who have a doctoral degree or equivalent (certified). Grants are available for conducting research and/or lecturing in the U.S. universities. Any field, except clinical medicine and other clinical disciplines, is eligible. More details about the criteria that should be met by the applicants, grants duration and application instructions could be read at the address www.fulbright.ro or obtained by sending inquiries at office@fulbright.ro.

"Gender Equality in Science" as a theme for PhD studies at the UAIC

The theme "Gender Equality in Science" is proposed for the PhD studies, the second year consecutively, in the competition call for the admission session September 2014 of the UAIC's Doctoral School. This is until now a singular initiative in a Romanian University. Prof. dr. Doina Balahur, scientific coordinator for PhD in Sociology at the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, announced the topics and the bibliography on "Gender, Career and Performance in Scientific Research" and "Structural Transformations in Universities and Research Institutes for Achieving Gender Equality in Science". The research on these themes will be carried out in cooperation with the FP7 European project STAGES at the UAIC. (more info here)

International opportunities for study and research

30 September 2014. Like every year, at the beginning of a new academic year, the professors, researchers and students from UAIC, are informed about study and research opportunities especially provided for Romanian scholars in different European countries. For example, DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst/ German Academic Exchange Service), which is the biggest organization in the world supporting the academic international cooperation, announced new application sessions for master studies and research stages at the German Universities in all the scientific and artistic domains. Annually DAAD funds over 600 grants for Romanian researchers and students, within the individual grants programmes and institutional cooperation projects, and supports more than 200 German citizens who want to study, to teach or to do research in Romania. More information about the application conditions on www.daad.ro. Similarly, AUF (Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie) launched the application call for academic professional stages in France for 2015. As mentioned in the call announcement, these mobility grants aim at developing competence needed for scholars’ professional integration in their country of origin and increasing the access of women and young specialists to managerial positions. More on this subject: here.

Results of the UAIC’s internal competition for research grants: more women gained funds

29 October 2014. Beginning with 2014-2015 academic year, the Executive Management Board of the UAIC has launched an internal competition for research grants aiming to stimulate the scientific performance of young female and male researchers from our University. Last month, the call announced that UAIC will be funding 25 grants for researchers under 35 years-old. After the selection process, 26 applicants were declared eligible and for the first time in such contests the proportion of female researchers is significantly more than that of their male colleagues. Thus no less than 18 young female researchers from the two Interdisciplinary Research Departments - of Nature Sciences and Social-Humanistic Sciences, respectively -, and also from different faculties (Biology, Physics, Economics and Business Administration, Letters, Psychology) are among the winners (the list with final results can be read here). Some of these young researchers already are members of the UAIC Network of Women in Academia and Research, the other ones are waited with their CV presentations in order to be included in our compendium/open source database of the most performant women scientists from the UAIC (see here).

Open call for postdoctoral grants applications at the Erasmus Mundus Academic Network (EDEN)

4 December 2014. EDEN (Erasmus Mundus Academic Network) is a project financed through the Erasmus Mundus Action 2, the EACCEA programme that fosters institutional co-operation in the field of higher education between the European Union and non-EU countries through a mobility scheme addressing student and academic exchanges for the purpose of studying, teaching, training and research. The project is implemented by a consortium consisting of 6 Lot 3 higher education institutions and 9 EU universities, working together under a joint coordination: Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi – coordinator and IDC Herzliya – Co-Coordinator. Launched in 15 July 2012, for a period of 4 years, the project recently announced a new open call for postdoctoral grants applications, with the deadline on 20 January 2015. More info: here and on the project site.

Research grant competition on Gender Equality in Science

15 June 2015. The Doctoral Scholarship Programme on Gender Equality in Science, set up in 2013 within the frame of the UAIC-STAGES project in cooperation with the UAIC Doctoral School / Doctoral School in Sociology, is successfully continued in 2015 as well. This year the theme of the grant competition is Gender and Responsible Research and Innovation. The PhD research themes will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Doina Balahur, coordinator of the UAIC-STAGES project, who initiated the thematic programme on Gender Equality in Science to be included as PhD advanced research in Sociology at the "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University.

Documentation stage on international gender research

16 June - 15 July 2015. The PhD candidate George Ichim, who is a member of the UAIC-STAGES team, benefited by the new doctoral programme on gender equality in science set up within the frame of this European project at the initiative and with the scientific supervision of Prof. Dr. Doina Balahur. Recently, he won a one month research and documentation stage at the University of Messina, Italy, under the coordination of Prof. Fabio Mostaccio. On this occasion, George Ichim has conducted several interviews with women in academia and research connected to his PhD research topic on women on boards in university and gender representation in scientific research committees.

The Fulbright Senior Postdoctoral Program for Romanian Scholars 2016-2017

3 August 2015. The Romanian-U.S. Fulbright Commission announces the annual competition for Fulbright Senior Postdoctoral Awards for Romanian professors, researchers and professionals who have a doctoral degree or equivalent (certified). Grants are available for conducting research and/or lecturing in the U.S. universities. Any field, except clinical medicine and other clinical disciplines, is eligible. More information about the criteria that should be met by the applicants, grants duration and application instructions could be read on http://www.fulbright.ro/news/325-the-fulbright-senior-postdoctoral-program-2016-2017 and on the site www.fulbright.ro or obtained by sending inquiries at office@fulbright.ro.

PhD specialization on Gender Equality in Science

The PhD programme on Gender Equality in Science set up within the frame of the UAIC-STAGES project in cooperation with the Doctoral School of Sociology, as a part of UAIC Doctoral School, has continued in 2015. A new candidate, Catrinel Zaharia, has successfully passed the admission examination and is now enrolled at the Doctoral School of Sociology, the programme on Gender Equality in Science. PhD student Catrinel Zaharia has a professional experience in the field of economics and business administration and she has also authored a book, "Everything for women. A short treaty on re-finding ourselves" (2015). Strongly motivated for research in gender equality in computer science and challenged by the direct experience in a male dominated domain she proposed a research theme that is focused on a top priority issue "Women and the career in IT: Access to top positions".