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| Department of Biotechnology supports women scientists to achieve SDG5 towards gender equality in STEM fields, Photo Courtesy: Rebrand Cities |
New Delhi (Lisbon Times):- The Department along
with its PSUs and Autonomous Institutes has initiated several programs to
bring more women into science to achieve Sustainable Development Goals(SDG5).
In an attempt to enhance the participation of Women Scientists in Biotechnology
Research, the Department of Biotechnology launched a Biotechnology Career
Advancement and Re-orientation Program (BioCARe) for women scientists
in January 2011. The program is mainly for the Career Development of employed/
unemployed women Scientists for whom it is the first extramural research
grant. The scheme is open for all areas of Life Sciences (including
agriculture, veterinary science, and medicine). Women Scientists who are
employed or unemployed or are desirous of coming back after a break can get
back to the mainstream by getting their first grant as the Principal Investigator.
Around 223 women scientists were supported during the last 6
years.
Janaki Ammal-National
Women Bioscientist Award is being implemented by the Department to recognize outstanding research
contributions of women scientists in basic and applied research in the areas of
Biosciences and Biotechnology including agricultural, biomedical, and
environmental sciences with potential for application/product and technology
development. The reward under the senior category is a one-time monitory award of
Rs.5.00 lakhs. The women scientists who are below 45 years of age and have made
significant research contributions in Biotechnology/Biological Sciences are
awarded under the young category with a minor research grant of Rs.5.00 lakh/year
to pursue their ongoing research activities for a period of five years in
addition to Award money of Rs.1.00 lakh (one time). Presently Department has a provision to give one award under the Senior category and two awards under the Young
category. In the last 6 years, 18 awards, 6 under the Senior category and 12 under the Young category have been given.
BIRAC, PSU of the
Department is also playing a significant role in promoting “women
entrepreneurship” in the country.BIRAC-TiEWInER (Women In
Entrepreneurial Research)Award: BIRAC has a dedicated award to promote and
recognize women entrepreneurs in the Biotech sector. This award is in partnership
with TiE-Delhi NCR. Under this national annual award program, 15 women
entrepreneurs working on ideas that impact large sections of the society are
awarded INR 5 lakhs each along with mentoring, handholding, an opportunity to
participate in an intensive accelerator program. After the accelerator
program, the 15 contestants compete through Business Pitching for the award of
INR 25 lakhs each to 3 final winners. So far, in the three editions of WInER
Award 46women entrepreneur awardees have been felicitated. BIRAC has also
supported two Bioincubators, which provide incubation space and mentoring
(business, IP, legal) specifically to women students/scientists/entrepreneurs.
These include Golden Jubilee Biotech Park, Chennai, and Sri Padmavati
MahilaVisvavidyalayam, Tirupati.
The annual Women Leaders in Global Health (WLGH) conference is being co-hosted by the Department and WLGH in India during June – July 2021 to bring together established and emerging leaders from across the global and national health community to advance gender equity in health leadership. As part of a larger initiative hosted by Stanford University, the annual conference builds momentum, connection, and ownership across societal influencers, institutions and change-agents focusing on women.
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