In the third episode, you can take a walk in the shoes of Nerea Zabala Unzalu, who is a professor at the University of the Basque Country - UPV/EHU and a member of the Theory of Nanophotonics research group. She started her scientific career in the 90s in Spain, and after her PhD, she was literally disconnected from research during her two maternity leaves, as there was no internet at that time. She continued her research activity in the emergent field of plasmonics and photonics, which is the reason why she participates in the POSEIDON project. How has the experience of being a female scientist evolved and influenced her perception of gender inequality in the field? Listen what she has to say.

This episode was produced by AMIRES with the support of the POSEIDON nanophotonics project.

In the second episode, you can take a walk in the shoes of Dr Alina Muraviskaya, Belarusian postdoctoral researcher who is deeply engaged in a study of different ways of how we control lights in nanoscale at the University of Hull - Department of Physics and Mathematics.

Far from feeling excluded as a woman, Alina has been fuelled by the encouragement of those around her to excel in her talents. The importance of having a supportive community is evident in her story. As you will listen, you will discover the sources of her confidence and ease.

We also discussed about mental health and how she copes with such hyper-competitive environment with its ‘publish or perish’ culture and a lack of job security. Listen to her journey that unlocks hidden misconception of science.

This episode was produced by AMIRES with the support of the POSEIDON nanophotonics project.

In the first episode, you can take a walk in the shoes of a real role model – Anna Lena Schall-Giesecke who is an initial female coordinator of EU-funded project POSEIDON from which this podcast is supported. Anna is a well-known woman in the field of nanotechnology, mother of two, a professor of Semiconductor Technology at the University of Duisburg-Essen and a group leader at the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems. Despite the effects of gender discrimination, her joy for her scientific career has not been diminished; she continues to pursue her dream. Listen to different perspective of male-dominated nanotechnology sector and advice for decent representation of females in science.