Encouraging messages from our brilliant researchers

One of the goals of the current Diversity in Graphene initiative and the former Women in Graphene is to boost the visibility of talented people working in the Graphene Flagship. Get inspired by their comments on the importance of diversity and inclusion in science and technology.  

 “Encouraging gender diversity, helping women to break the so-called glass ceiling, can bring an important revitalizing drift to the scientific world” by Eva Pogna. Read her interview  

“Solving problems and creating innovations are creative processes that often require a change of perspective to look at things from a different angle. I strongly believe that diversity is an advantage for every research group, since it can leverage the full potential of its members” by Arne Quellmalz. Read his interview 

“I think that without diversity, there is no progress: you can get stuck in a certain way of thinking, while you need different points of view to trigger new ideas. It is important to work with people from different backgrounds and all walks of life, and this is part of the reason why I strive to have such a variety of experiences” by Meganne Christian. Read her interview 

“Innovation in the Graphene Flagship does not arise on its own, rather it is brought forth by the hard work and enterprise of scientists coming from different racial, lingual and cultural backgrounds” by Yarjan Abdul Samad. Read his interview 

“Most importantly, be yourself!”  by Claudia Backes. Watch her talk 

Promoting women in science remains important because women account for a minority of the world’s researchers. According to the 2020 UNESCO Institute for Statistics fact sheet, 39% of R&D full-time and part-time staff are women in Central and Eastern Europe, 33% in Western Europe, and 30% on average worldwide. Here at the Graphene Flagship, we are committed to celebrating diversity and creating opportunities for all.