New WREN reinforcements!

Photo above: Team WREN UNIFEI. From left to right: Eduardo, Juliani, Giovana, Jeniffer, Bruno, Flávia and Bruno Souza in the background.

Success by the WREN-Brazil Team by securing grant funding to investigate challenges faced by women researchers in STEM and promoting gender equality in Brazil and internationally.

On February 16, 2024, the PROEX – Dean of Extension at the Federal University of Itajubá (UNIFEI), Brazil, published a call for project funding. This notice aims to support the development of cultural and social university extension activities by selecting up to 40 extension projects. Each selected project could receive up to R$11,200.00 in funding, which would be allocated as scholarships for undergraduate students.

The WREN-Brazil Team submitted a project titled “Women’s Research Engineers Network”, coordinated by Assistant Professors Jeniffer de Nadae from UNIFEI and Julia Mendes from Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF). Our member Flávia Tuane Moraes, also a PhD student at UNIFEI, is participating in this project. The WREN BR team’s proposed project scored 9.2 out of 10 and was one of the winning projects. The project aims to promote gender equality in STEM, particularly in engineering, by identifying the challenges and barriers national and international female researchers face. Once we received the grant, we started selecting two undergraduate students. This process was guided by a detailed public notice outlining dates, step descriptions, requirements, necessary documents, and information about the initiative.

Selection Process

First Stage: This involved a written test covering topics from WREN’s articles to gauge the candidates’ depth of knowledge on the realities faced by women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).

Second Stage: Candidates participated in an interview to assess their English proficiency and further evaluate their competencies. This helped identify and select candidates who best aligned with the project’s goals and activities and had skills to be part of international networking. 

Successful Scholarship Recipients

As a result of the selection process, we have two successful scholarship recipients: Giovana Fernandes Fonseca (Chemical Engineering student), who started her activities in May, and Juliani Ferreira de Oliveira Silverio (Industrial Engineering student), who will join the team in August. The project also involves Eduardo Alves Carvalho, Brunno Franklin Nasar and Bruno de Souza Silva as volunteers’ students from Industrial Engineering, and Computer Engineering courses.

These students will be responsible for engaging in various project areas, organizing events, promoting conference events, and supporting the preparation and dissemination of newsletters, among other tasks. They will also conduct a thorough analysis to identify female researchers’ barriers and difficulties in Brazil and internationally, presenting their findings at scientific events.

We are excited about the opportunities this funding brings and look forward to the impactful contributions our team will make in advancing gender equality in STEM fields.