2 May 2014 13:34

Lancaster University has won two Athena SWAN Silver awards aimed at encouraging women in science and technology careers.

Both the Faculty of Health and Medicine and the Department of Physics in the Faculty of Science and Technology have been given the national awards.

There were 125 award submissions for this year’s awards, which will be presented on July 10 at Durham University.

The Athena SWAN Awards recognise success in developing employment practices to further and support the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) departments in academia.

Dr Jane Owen-Lynch said: “We’re very pleased that this award has gone to the Faculty of Health and Medicine in the face of strong nationwide competition. This demonstrates the commitment of the Faculty towards advancing women’s careers in STEMM.”  

Lancaster University is also hosting its inaugural Athena SWAN lecture. The speaker is Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, FRS, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester and the event is in Lancaster Management School Lecture Theatre 3 on May 16.

There will also be an Athena SWAN silver seminar on May 22 in Manchester aimed at university departments wishing to submit for an Athena SWAN silver award.

This latest success for Lancaster University follows the presentation of the Athena Swan Bronze award to both the Faculty of Health and Medicine and the Lancaster Environment Centre.  Meanwhile, the Department of Physics won Juno Champion status from the Institute of Physics in 2013.

This aims to address the problem of the very low proportion of women in physics, especially in higher academic posts.

Just 1 in 5 of physics undergraduates and lecturers and 1 in 25 physics professors in the UK are women.