The "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi is the first university in Romania that has set up a center for research, monitoring and documentation on gender equal opportunities in academia and research, similar to the existing Gender Equality Centers from well-known European and World Wide Universities.

The creation of the new organizational structure, named Centrul pentru egalitate de gen în știință (Centre for Gender Equality in Science), was decided by the UAIC Management Board on the 24 July 2013. The proposal and argumentation for its setting up was addressed by Prof. Dr. Doina Balahur, the UAIC coordinator of the FP7 European project "Structural transformations to achieve gender equality in science" (STAGES), ran at the UAIC by the Centre for Social Management and Community Development.

The new Centre started functioning on the 1st October 2013. The official ceremony of inauguration was held on the 23-24 October 2013, in the presence of the UAIC management representatives, professors and researchers, post-doctoral fellows, PhD and MA students. Two international gender experts were especially invited for this event as the UAIC Centre’s first guests: Dr. Katrien Maes, Gender Chief Officer of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), and Dr. Anne Pepin, Director of the Mission for the place of women at the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) – France.

The Centre is functioning, like other similar organizational structures from different European Universities, under the direct coordination of the executive management of the University, namely the UAIC’s Executive Board of the Administration Council. It has its own Executive Board led by a Director. A Scientific council composed by the UAIC managers, professors and researchers as well as an International Board of Scientific Advisors including prestigious experts in gender equality policies and good practice analysis in the European Universities support the activities of the UAIC Centre for Gender Equality in Science.

Aims and objectives

Aims:

• Knowledge, evaluation and supporting the promotion of the gender equality in science at the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi according to the European policies and strategies, national law and regulations as well as to the provisions of the UAIC’s Charter on the mission, objectives and responsibilities of the University.

Objectives:

• Carrying out periodical analysis and evaluations of the gender equality in scientific research and academic domains at the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi. The analysis and evaluations will rely on the sociological research using the specific quantitative and qualitative methods of gender enquiry in science (gender analysis, gender assessment, gender audit). The syntheses of the evaluation reports will be periodically presented to the UAIC’s top management board in order to document the state of gender equality in science in our university and also for the integration of these issues within the managerial programmes and strategies of the University.
• Setting up an open source database concerning the dynamics of gender equality in research and academic fields at the UAIC, taking as reference the main statistical indicators set by European Commission’s reports SHE FIGURES as well as the Gender Equality Index, published by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), and other documents.
• Advancing proposals for programmes and action plans in order to support the UAIC policy and organizational strategy regarding the gender equality in science. These actions, already initiated within the framework of FP7 European project “Structural Transformations to Achieve Gender Equality in Science”- STAGES (see stages.csmcd.ro), will continue the next two years based on the project’s resources and then through other national and international funding resources.
• Developing research, documentation, training and communication activities aimed at promoting the objectives of gender equality in science within the UAIC. The documentation will focus on the European policies as well as on the national laws and regulations concerning gender equality, and will present the scientific research results and the good practice in similar Centers from the European Universities, in order to stimulate specific activities at the UAIC.
• Connecting the UAIC Centre for Gender Equality in Science with the European Networks of similar Centers from the Universities belonging to the Coimbra Group and Utrecht Group, to which the UAIC is affiliated, as well as to the network of the world class universities like the European League of Research Universities (LERU).