Vice-Rector, Leiden University, Netherlands; Chair, League of European Research Universities (LERU), Gender Equality Group, Europe.

Gendered Innovations: The new position paper from LERU (League of European Research Universities) (download presentation here )
Plenary Panel 3: Developing Policies & Partnerships to Improve Gender Diversity in STEMM
Chair
Gender Summits Overview: Collective Commitment and Action for Global Impact

Simone Buitendijk MD, MPH, PhD is Vice-rector Magnificus in charge of teaching and learning and of diversity and member of the Board of the University of Leiden. She is Professor and Chair of Women’s and Family Health at the Leiden University Medical Center. She studied Medicine in Utrecht, received a Master’s degree in Public Health at the Yale School of Medicine in the US, and earned her PhD degree in Leiden. She is a member of the LERU (League of European Research Universities) Gender Steering Group. She co-authored the 2013 LERU position paper ‘'Women, research and universities: excellence without gender bias" and of the 2015 LERU advice paper of Gendered Research and Innovation (in press).

Summary of talk for Gender Summit 6 Asia-Pacific:

Research intensive universities aim for excellence in research. In order to achieve this goal, they need to systematically consider sex and gender as potential factors in defining research processes, from making decisions about funding, through deciding on the research focus, methodology and data collection, to analysing and reporting data, and to disseminating and applying the results. University leaders should raise awareness of the importance of gendered research within their institutions; should stimulate integration of Social Sciences and Humanities methods with STEM-research methodology where needed, and should provide tools for their researchers to understand and apply gendered methods in their research field. LERU universities want to take a lead in discussions with governments, funding agencies, journals and other actors to emphasise the importance of support for GRI and to ensure that sufficient funds are allocated. A comprehensive, strategic and partnership approach is vital to ensure that the momentum, which is building, is not lost and that awareness of the importance of gendered research as a contributor to responsible research and innovation keeps growing.