Over 100 people registered for the event. 90 people from more than 30 international, state, educational, scientific organizations and production companies of Russia, the Republic of Belarus, Austria, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ukraine took an active part in the workshop.
Stressing the importance of the role of women in the development of the nuclear sphere, the participants of the event were welcomed by: Tatiana Leonova - NRNU MEPhI Vice-Rector, Maria Ganchenkova - Deputy Minister of Digital and Technological Development of the Sakhalin Region, Boris Tulinov - IIR NRNU MEPhI Director, Edward Lozansky - President of the American University in Moscow, Natalia Omerova – Head of NRNU MEPhI Grant office, Andrey Cherkasskiy – IIR NRNU MEPhI Deputy Director, Konstantin Kogos - Head of the International Scientific and Methodological Center NRNU MEPhI, Elena Tsivkunova - Head of the Department of Special Linguistic Training № 62 NRNU MEPhI.
The workshop was moderated by Artem Zharov, Deputy Head of the International Center for Public Diplomacy IIR NRNU MEPhI, Milana Ozerina, Anastasia Salnikova - students of the Institute of International Relations of NRNU MEPhI, Vladimir Zubavlenko, an engineer of the Institute of Intellectual Cyber Systems NRNU MEPhI.
Alyona Yakovleva, President of the Russian branch of the international organization “Women of the Nuclear Industry (WIN Global)”, spoke about the activities of the organization, which unites 35,000 women specialists in 48 branches around the world and contributes to their professional development. Alyona Yakovleva is also the director of the information portal "Atomic Energy 2.0." The speaker paid attention to the specifics of the portal and the launch of a new project - interviews with outstanding women specialists. The project aims to find effective ways to address the challenges faced by women in the nuclear industry.
Anastasia Shavrova, Visiting Research Fellow in the Center for Energy and Security Studies shared her experience in a scientific organization with the participants. "It is worth choosing 1-2 topics, but you should understand all the topical issues on the international agenda," - said Anastasia. While choosing this career, it is necessary to take into account the presence of high competition and you must be ready to work on a wide range of issues. Among the advantages Anastasia highlighted a rapid pace of professional development and the presence of a small but close community, which allows to interact with leading representatives of the industry and diplomatic community.
Elena Zhivitskaya, Head of the Maria Skladovskaya-Curie project, IAEA told in detail about the IAEA scholarship program named after Maria Skłodowska-Curie, which allows talented students to study in nuclear specialty at any university of the world and to complete an internship in the IAEA for 6-12 months.
Veronika Bedenko, Analyst for Open Nuclear Network, the program "One Earth Future", devoted her speech to the issue of gender balance in nuclear nonproliferation and disarmamant fora. Increasing number of women participating in such fora is important because women have the right to full and equal representation, as enshrined in the main international human rights instruments. According to the speaker, the participation of women increases the effectiveness of the attempted measures and leads to a change of discourse - they bring a new vision as they have a unique experience. Answering questions about her career, Veronika Bedenko advised students to be more active and constantly raise the level of knowledge.
Natalia Zhurina, Research Officer in Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL), shared her success story and practical recommendations on how to take the first steps in the industry and how to start a career successfully. Natalia advised young specialists and students to try to find a mentor - a person who will help to develop useful skills and who will share vast experience.
Presentation on outstanding achievements of women in the nuclear sphere, prepared by Natalya Muller - Deputy Director of Russian Academic Excellence Project Office of NRNU MEPhI, was presented by the students of the Institute of International Relations - Milana Ozerina and Anastasia Salnikova.
As a result of the event, the participants noted the positive atmosphere, informativity, relevance, and most importantly, the demand for information received from speakers. Speakers and listeners noted the importance of holding similar events in the future, which is illustrated in the best way by the feedback given by the participants of the workshop "Women in nuclear sphere."
"Thank you to all organizers and participants of the workshop! It was very interesting! And I think we as young students have been shown an example that there is something to strive for and that we will be able to work everywhere. Thank you!"Ak Meryem Ishakovna
"I want to express my gratitude, first of all, to the organizers of the workshop and speakers. In my opinion, the amazing topic “Women in the nuclear sphere” was chosen. This issue is relevant and requires attention today. It’s nice to listen to smart people! Thank you!" Fetisova Jana Romanovna
"I want to express my gratitude to the organizers and speakers! It is very important to cover the topic of gender inequality, especially in the scientific sphere! We, as young students, need to see examples of women who have achieved heights! Thank you!" Ponomareva Ulyana Mikhailovna
"Girls, thank you very much, it was very interesting, and the speakers were very different with interesting reports." Kiseleva Anna Yurievna
“Huge thanks to the organizers of this event! Honestly, I really liked everything: from the beginning to the end. There were really a lot of participants, but there was no extra noise, nothing distracted the speakers from speaking. All the speakers were very interesting, they talked about their experience, their work and they motivated young people to go forward and do not stop. This is the main advantage of the event. I did not find any disadvantages, to be honest. Of course, a couple of times there were problems with communication, but it did not interfere with anything, all problems were immediately resolved. Thanks again! I hope that similar events will be organized in the nearest future!”, Klishina Elena Sergeevna