Cristina Bahamonde Castro, chemical and nuclear engineer, talking about her job during one of the visits at a school in Geneva (Image: Sakura Horiguchi, Chandieu School)
On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February) and throughout the preceding week, female scientists and engineers visited schools in the local area to talk about their jobs.
Some 2400 pupils between the ages of 7 and 18 from 108 different classes had the opportunity to meet 47 women working at CERN, the University of Geneva and EPFL. These women talked about their careers and their daily work, revealed the answers to a few of science’s mysteries, sometimes even conducted small experiments, and answered numerous questions on subjects ranging from supernovas to absolute zero and the speed of light. The visitors received an enthuasiastic welcome from the captivated pupils, who were delighted with the talks.
No doubt they’ve inspired lots of budding scientists and engineers!
Last year, 34 volunteers visited 70 classrooms in the local area.