Our new year pledge

Our #WISEnewyearpledge:
We pledge to introduce more female role models in STEMM outside of academia and host cross-campus events.

WISE@QMUL’s mission as a society is to raise awareness of gender biases in the STEMM sectors and to give women the confidence and supportive network to pursue top leadership roles in both academia and industry.

We believe this discussion should not remain closed within QMUL so we are opening our free membership to all interested parties from academia and industry. Of course, men as well as women are welcome to join us.

Our two key goals for 2014 are to:
(i) introduce female role models in STEMM outside of academia to highlight the diversity of career paths open to women with STEMM training; and
(ii) build links to WISE groups at other institutions and companies in the region in order for us to host successful cross-campus events.

We have an exciting line-up of guest speakers at our events this semester, including:

• Prof Tom Welton, who led the Imperial College Department of Chemistry to an Athena SWAN Gold Award
• Two female (bio)tech start-up founders
• Victoria Murphy from Sense About Science

Full details will be released shortly, so sign up for our free membership to be the first to receive the latest news. And don’t forget to follow us on twitter too: @WISEQMUL.

If you have links to a local WISE group and would like to collaborate with WISE@QMUL please get in touch via our contact form. We are open to all suggestions for events and sponsorship.

Inspired? Tweet your own #WISEnewyearpledge now!

14th Nov 2012: Women in entrepreneurship

WISE@QMUL presents an exciting evening seminar and networking opportunity: “Women in entrepreneurship”.

This will appeal to anyone working or interested in setting up their own business. Come along and hear some interesting speakers, question them on a Q&A panel, and network with like-minded people over refreshments! Registration is free.

WISE@QMUL is an inclusive society aiming to provide information and a networking platform for those interested in female participation in science.  We welcome men as well as women, and academics from undergraduate level to professors.

When: Wednesday 14 November 2013, 4-6 pm
Where: Room 1.28, ArtsOne, Mile End Campus
Map: http://www.qmul.ac.uk/docs/about/26065.pdf (Building 37)

Register for this event at www.learninginstitute.qmul.ac.uk/booking  (use code: RW203).

Programme:

16:00 Reception
16:30 Laura Heijink (President, Queen Mary Entrepreneurs)
16:35 Tracy Bussoli (Careers and Enterprise, QMUL)
16:45 Lucie Phillips (New Entrepreneurs Foundation)
17:00 Panel with Laura Heijink and entrepreneurs Yasmin Desai and Raimonda Jankunaite
17:40-18:00 Networking

Speakers:

• Laura Heijink is a second year student at QMUL and is president of the university’s student society Queen Mary Entrepreneurs (QME), promoting entrepreneurship within the university.
• Dr Tracy Bussoli is the Careers Consultant for Researchers at QMUL.  She has a specialist interest in enterprise and is responsible for delivering a series of workshops entitled ‘Generate Your Business Idea’ at QMUL.  She is also part of a team of careers consultants that offers one-in-one advice to people wanting to start up their own business.
• Lucie Phillips is an Account Manager for New Entrepreneurs Foundation (NEF) and Commercial and Marketing Manager for the Bright Network.  NEF is a charity which runs a scheme to place young entrepreneurs in host companies and gives them a salary and the skills to start their own scalable business afterwards.  The Bright Network is a boutique platform for the brightest minds to access the best opportunities and connections.
• Yasmin Desai is also a second year student at QMUL and part of the QME committee.  She is the founder of the magazine Hampshire Student Directory.
• Raimonda Jankunaite is studying law at BBP Law School.  She is a social entrepreneur and the Director of WeFill, a company finding innovative solutions to minimise excessive waste from beverage consumption.

Exciting start as WISE@QMUL relaunches!

Wow, what a great start our new programme, it’s made me so excited about future WISE@QMUL events! We had our first WISE@QMUL Lounge on 22nd March 2013, featuring some incredibly inspiring speakers, lovely food and a great turnout of guests.

Prof Evelyn Welch, VP at QMUL for Research and International Affairs opened the afternoon.

Dr Becky Stewart completed her PhD at QMUL’s Centre for Digital Music and re-visited her old turf to talk to us about the joys and perils of recently starting up Codasign, her own interactive arts and technology company in London.  It was especially great to hear from Becky, as she was involved in WISE during her time at QMUL.

Our very own Magda heroically stepped in at the last minute to give us a refresher about what WISE aims to achieve this year (and beyond!) and how to get involved.

Finally, Jennifer Indovina gave us a whirlwind bio and series of take-away pointers from her own experience of setting up her own company, Tenrehte Technologies.  Highlights included winning the Green Technology Category in the Best of CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2010 and becoming a TED Fellow.  Jen set up Tenrehte to produce wireless green tech products, including the PICOwatt plug to monitor your home electronic devices from anywhere in the world.

WISE is always looking for new ideas for events so if you have any suggestions at all, even if they are very small, please use our contact form.

Roll on the next WISE Lounge!

WISE@QMUL is back!

After more than eight months of inactivity, WISE@QMUL finally comes back to life with a new look and new members on board!

This week, 6th-8th March, 12-2 pm, we will be in the Library Square of Mile End campus promoting the society’s activities. Please come along to find out about our planned seminars and social events.

Our very first event is happening on 22nd March, 4-6 pm at Room 3.20, Arts Two. For more details, see the flyer below:

Click to see full size