NEWS

Several figures have been used to describe the gender gap in academia and research, from “leaky pipeline” to “glass ceiling”. But what are the experiences of girls and women in the scientific community? We have tried to gather together our perspectives as young women starting our careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) field, reflecting on the past formative years and wondering about our future prospects.

It is undeniable that our childhood and school years have a great influence on our interests and on the person that we become as adults. There is still a considerable disparity between the education provided to male and female children around the world. Patriarchal and obsolete gender roles are still engraved in the way society teaches young boys and girls: from the toys that we are given to the life lessons we are told. This lack of equal education is leaving women in a skills crisis when it comes to STEM and high responsibility jobs [1]. Another issue is the under-representation of successful female role models in science. Let’s be honest, at most people would be able to name Madame Marie Sklodowska Curie if asked on the street to name a famous female scientist. Young girls do not have a mirror to seem themselves in when it comes to dreaming of becoming a researcher. As a consequence, women are unmotivated to try a career in STEM, feeling ashamed to speak up about their passion and discriminated against in case they do.

One of us had a strong model growing up: her grandmother who, in the mid-1900s, chose a career in physics, facing a world that was encouraging women even less to pick their own path. We recognize now the importance of representation: it makes everything you imagine obtainable and possible.

With our short experience as PhD students, we would like to send out a few words of encouragement to girls who are interested in science and research. But first, let’s have an idea of the situation we are delving into.

More than 500 000 people were studying Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics) in the European Union (EU) in 2018 at a Bachelor or Master level (or equivalent). Overall, women were under-represented, accounting for roughly 46% of all Science students in the EU. However, this number is not representative as there is a strong disparity amongst the subjects of study. Indeed, less than 30% are female students in Physics against more than 60% in the field of Biology.

In Figure 1, the share of female students in different fields of Science in 2016 and 2018 is represented for the countries that are part of the Pioneer consortium. Among the EU Member States, Romania and Poland stand out with more than 50% of female students in the four fields considered. In contrast, the share of female Physics students is less than one fifth in Belgium (18.5%) and the Netherlands (15.7%). Excluding Romania and Poland, the highest shares of female students in Mathematics were recorded in Italy (>50%) and Portugal (>40%).

Concerning the evolution between 2016 and 2018, the general trend would suggest an increase of the number of female students in Science. The field mostly concerned by this increase is the field of Physics, with a growth in all the countries considered except Ireland, Italy, and Poland.

When discussing the gender gap the term STEM is mostly used and refers to subjects such as Astronomy, Biochemistry, Biology, Chemical engineering, Chemistry, Computer science Electrical engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics… the issue  of female underrepresentation and lack of female role models in STEM subjects has been discussed extensively and is often blamed for steering women away from studying these subjects. Indeed, it reinforces the perception that women will feel isolated and excluded in these typically male-dominated environments. In order to encourage more female students to choose a STEM degree, universities, employers and governments have also introduced policies aimed at increasing the proportion of women but the effects of these policy instruments are difficult to assess and there is still a long way to go before equality is reached. Universities can also fight the gender gap by creating new interdisciplinary scientific fields as it was shown that women would be more drawn to this type of research. Finally, efforts should be made to increase the exposure of positive female role models both in schools and in universities.

We have discussed the disproportion between men and women in STEM at BSc and MSc levels. These numbers remain below 40% at doctoral level, where we find 37% and 39% of female PhD students and graduates, respectively [3]. If we compare these data to the corresponding shares in all fields, we see that European early stage researchers are almost reaching parity on a gender basis, while women in science and technology suffer from a drop of 11 and 9 percentage points respectively, in the same positions.

There are however differences between all EU Countries, with some doing better than others, as well as more marked disparities depending on the discipline within the broad STEM category. For instance, physics and engineering have the worst female participation, while the number of women in natural sciences, biology and chemistry is increasing at a faster rate, mirroring the same trends we saw for undergraduate and postgraduate students.

How are universities and institutions tackling this problem? Gender equality has been included among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in the 2030 EU Agenda. We have examined the websites of the 15 Universities taking part in our Consortium, to have a general picture of the situation in Europe. The majority of them has a dedicated webpage on gender equality and diversity, where its policies and resolutions are listed. Only two Universities (U. of Trento and U. of Zaragoza)[4][5] have an actual Monitoring Center that provides public progress stats on a yearly basis, confirming the need to fill huge data gaps. We strongly encourage all universities to take a leaf from them, to be more effective in their actions for the achievement of equality. A special mention goes to the University of Liverpool for its LivWiSE project (Liverpool Women in Science and Engineering society) [6], for their outstanding work on promotion, networking and event organization. We really recommend you to visit their webpage and youtube channel.

Across all the EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCAs) funded between 2014 and 2018, the average presence of women accounted for 40,9%. Specifically, the Doctoral programmes MSCA-ITN (Innovative Training Networks) registered 42,5% presence of female researchers. In the frame of Pioneer, only 1 out of 3 ESR is female, which is way below the general share.

To conclude, a doctorate is a period of intensive training and the beginning of a research career in an elective field. Women must not be cut out from the technological and scientific advancement and from shaping tomorrow’s world. Finally, “there is overwhelming evidence that diverse teams are more creative and productive”, as Frank Baaijens, Rector of Eindhoven TU, declared, speaking about the University’s resolutions to increase women’s and minorities’ representation in academia. [7]

With this overview of the current situation of gender gap in university, we are looking ahead at the future scenarios and prospects for our professional careers. Nowadays, it can be said that finding a proper job and becoming a successful professional is one of the biggest challenges in one’s life. In today’s society, based on living cost, usually in each family both parents are employed. With progress in education and industry, unlike the previous generations, the last two generations are well educated and the competition for employment has increased. But the question is: are all these opportunities equal for women and men? Statistics show that in EU (Schengen Area) the employment rate of men is 11.8 percentage points higher than for women, despite the fact that the population of women in working age is 51% and for men is 49% [9]. Moreover, women are generally paid less with hourly earnings on average 14.8 % below those of men [10]. It seems that even in developed countries, there is still gender inequality in the workplace.

Compared to men, especially in technical positions, women are still not considered as experts. For example, imagine there is a job opportunity as an engineer in a company, there are two candidates: one woman and one man with exactly same credentials. Most likely, the man is going to be chosen based on prejudices that picture male professionals as more suitable and more educated in STEM field. Of course, with such point of view coming from society, women are less confident and usually underestimate themselves. Just imagine in such environment how women are under pressure to prove their perfection. Even if they are selected for a job, they always have these thoughts in mind that they should prove themselves to their peers. A study showed that, in the same workplace if you ask a man and a woman what they are mostly thinking about during their work is that the man thinks about improve his work because he is sure of his perfection in the work and the woman thinks about to compete with other colleagues just because of lack of confidence.

Just being a woman is a big challenge to face inequalities, so you can imagine how much harder is to be a successful woman. It’s still long way to show the societies that being a successful woman is not just being a good mother or wife. Women’s share in science and industry is much bigger than what we think. We have to rely on our set of skills, our solid preparation and our passion to show the world that these gender biases are outdated and a new generation of girls in STEM is ready to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.

Stay tuned for the second part of the blogpost in honor of the International Day of Women and Girls in, we will be reflecting on these important topics with some of the PIONEER supervisors.

This text was written by Beatrice Musig, Chloé Fromentin, Marzia Faedda, Golshid Hasrack and Carolina Garcia.

Sources:

[1] “https://www.unicef.org/media/84046/file/Reimagining-girls-education-through-stem-2020.pdf,” [Online].

[2] Dataset ‘Pupils and students enrolled by education level, sex and field of education’ “https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-datasets/-/educ_uoe_enra03” (Accessed on 31/01/2021)

[3]	“https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/she-figures-2018_en,” [Online].
[4]	“https://www.unitn.it/en/ateneo/53111/equality-diversity,” [Online].
[5]	“https://observatorioigualdad.unizar.es/,” [Online].
[6]	“https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/liverpool-women-in-science-and-engineering/,” [Online].
[7]	“https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/19/female-academics-job-applications-men-engineers,” [Online].
[8]	“https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/worldwide/japan/gender-equality-policies-and-gender-distribution-msca-and-erc,” [Online].

[9] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Gender_statistics [Online].

[10] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Gender_pay_gap_statistics [Online].

Extra references: Pioneer Universities Gender Equality webpages

Sorbonne Université

https://sciences.sorbonne-universite.fr/faculte/presentation/egalite

TU/e Eindhoven

https://www.tue.nl/en/our-university/about-the-university/diversity-and-inclusion/

DCU

https://www.dcu.ie/equality

Tecnico Lisboa

https://tecnico.ulisboa.pt/en/campus-life/living-at-tecnico/diversity-and-gender-balance/

AGH Krakow – no gender equality webpage

University of Bucharest – National Gender studies ban (https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/17/romania-gender-studies-ban-students-slam-new-law-as-going-back-to-the-middle-ages)

University of Trento

https://www.unitn.it/en/ateneo/53111/equality-diversity

University of Antwerp – Master in Gender studies but no committees for gender equality

University of Liverpool

https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/hr/diversityandequality/

https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/liverpool-women-in-science-and-engineering/

video https://youtu.be/MwOPN71CAlc

University of Caen – no webpage dedicated

University of Zaragoza

https://observatorioigualdad.unizar.es/sites/observatorioigualdad.unizar.es/files/users/obsigu/diagnostico_15-16.pdf

University of Paris-Saclay

https://ens-paris-saclay.fr/en/actualite/gender-equality-workplace-not-just-question-expertise

       I.            Introduction

Nowadays, agriculture is facing numerous problems due to the continuous world population growth, the environmental pollution, and climate change. In particular, the global population growth leads to an increased food demand and climate change has caused significant reductions in crop yield. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the main reasons for the global food shortages would be climate change, fast development of industrialization and urbanization. Due to the lack of cultivable land, the only course of action to address the food shortage is to increase the crop yield in an economically viable way ensuring the quality of the agricultural products and the preservation of resources and habitats. The current situation calls for agricultural research to ensure food security while keeping detrimental effects of agriculture on the environment to a minimum.

By improving the seed germination and plant growth we could meet the world population food needs. Indeed, the major cause of low germination of seeds of various plant is often connected to the seed surface and soil contamination with microorganisms and fungi. Until now, conventional techniques such as irrigation, fertilization, and crop protection have been implemented in order to increase the production. However, these methods present economic and environmental disadvantages. Increasing agricultural productivity, taking into account protection of the environment, must therefore be addressed with novel approaches. One such approach is to use Low Temperature Plasmas (LTPs) in agriculture (“Plasma Agriculture”), whereby plasma can increase the yield without demanding more water and/or more chemicals.

LTPs are ionized gas containing charged species and neutrals, in different excited states, in strong non-equilibrium due to electromagnetic and/or collisional interactions. They can be generated in different gas mixtures using microwaves, radio frequency, continuous, pulsed, or alternative current in various configurations like dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ), and corona discharges. LTPs are non-equilibrium plasmas that have high kinetic energy electrons, but low kinetic energy atomic and molecular species. On the one hand, the terms “low temperature” refer to the electron temperature being in the range of electron volts which is high enough to produce a variety of reactive species and UV radiation. On the other hand, the heavy particles (ions, molecules) remain at low temperature which prevent LTPs from damaging organic materials.

In the White paper on the future of plasma science in environment, for gas conversion and agriculture² Ronny Brandenburg et al showed how plasma technology including plasma agriculture can contribute to address the different challenges that our society is currently facing, namely, climate change, environmental pollution control, and resource utilization efficiency, as well as food security, sustainable agriculture, and water supply.  A review³ by Nevena Puač et al reports the state‐of‐the‐art of LTPs applications in the complete food cycle, that is, in treatments of seeds, plants, and food. This work is an overview of the wide variety of applications of LTPs in agriculture and food processing and presents promising results published in many studies. Finally, Bhawana Adhikari et al⁴ summarized prior experimental studies showing the activation effects of cold atmospheric or low-pressure plasmas effects on seed germination, plant growth and development, and plant sustainability including flowering and fruit production.

     II.            Soil and plant treatment

A key parameter for productivity in agriculture is the remediation of soil. Indeed, an important issue is the overuse of chemicals used in agriculture for fertilization or plant protection from various insects and viruses. Plasmas could provide an alternative ecological and low‐cost technology for decontamination and modification of soil thanks to its radicals, being very reactive with less effects in the long term than conventional chemicals. The challenge in soil remediation is to enable a selective treatment to reduce fungi and detrimental bacteria while preserving or enhancing the activity of nitrogen‐fixing bacteria.  In fact, plasma can meet these challenges and can as well protect from detrimental outcomes of continuous cropping. The effects of plasmas are moisture and soil material dependent.

              Plant treatment is also a possibility and the earliest studies on the effects of electricity on plants date back to the XVIII^th century. Moreover, non-equilibrium atmospheric-pressure plasma sources have been applied to actual agricultural crops for the inactivation of microorganisms (disinfection) and some of these sources are reviewed in an article from Masafumi Ito et al⁵.

       I.            Plasma treated Water

The use of plasma‐activated water (PAW) rather than direct plasma treatment is, also, a possible approach. Generally, PAW is produced by arc or gliding arc discharge (usually in air) on water surface. It is widely agreed that the antimicrobial properties of PAW derive from the combined effect of a high positive oxidation reduction potential (presence of H₂O₂) and a low pH, affecting the seed germination and plant growth. Several studies showed that PAW captures atmospheric nitrogen and acts as a fertilizer with similar effects to a conventional one. Nitrogen, especially in the ionic form NO₃⁻, is indispensable for plant growth. According to K Takaki et al⁶, PAW could double the nitrogen content in the leaves of plants, increase the leaf area and dry weight, and reduce the bacterial density by five orders of magnitude in hydroponic water. Indeed, the growth rate of the plants increased with the plasma irradiation time and the nitrate and nitrous nitrogen ions were produced by the application of plasma irradiation to the drainage water improving the plant growth rate. Finally, PAW is an environmentally friendly and cost-effective disinfectant. It was also suggested that the active species could be produced by the discharge in the liquid phase through photolysis by plasma emitted UV photons.

     II.            LTP in seed treatment

Low and atmospheric pressure plasmas such as DBDs, RF‐ and MW‐sustained plasmas, and gliding arcs under different conditions (mostly operating in air, but also in other gases) have been applied, either directly to the seeds or by remotely using the products of the gas discharge. The effects of plasma treatment in seeds are assumed to be induced by the plasma‐generated reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. The decontamination of seeds, e.g., the removal of pathogenic fungi, and bacteria as well as the insecticidal activity against larval and pupal stages of pests and the enhancement of their germination by treatment with nonthermal plasmas have been demonstrated in several studies. Plasma treatment can have a variety of effects on the morphology of seeds due to its complex interaction with organic materials and living cells.

Plasma treatment generates UV radiation, radicals and chemical reactions, which can play a role in dormancy breaking. Dormancy is the inhibition of germination under conditions (temperature, humidity, oxygen, and light) that are favorable to germination. It is a natural seed property enabling the species to reproduce and thus to survive. This can be caused by various factors such as temperature, light, water, impermeability of the seed coat, lack of supply and activity of enzymes and external inhibitors.

Another consequence of the plasma treatment is the modification of surface properties. The change of wetting properties and structure of the coat increases the water uptake and the permeability of nutrients, and it can accelerate the development of the roots. Many studies have suggested that a plasma-induced faster seed germination and increased seedling growth rates might be associated with the water uptake of seeds. Seeds in contact with cold plasmas are exposed to an attack by oxygen radicals and are bombarded by ions resulting in seed coat erosion. The altered seed coat could increase the hydrophilic ability of the seed and the oxidation of the seed surface changes its wettability eventually improving the water uptake of the seed. For instance, Jiang J. et al⁸ showed that cold helium plasma treatment, at atmospheric pressure, improved seed germination, growth, and yield of wheat. On the contrary, Volin J. et al⁹ reported that fluorocarbon plasma treatments at low pressure inhibited corn and bean seed germination. The most plausible explanation is the modification of seed coats via plasma-deposition of hydrophobic materials that reduces the water uptake, and thus leads to delayed seeds germination. The seed plasma treatment (exposure time, gas carrier, plasma input power, etc…) must be optimized for each type of seed.

  III.            Experiment on seed treatment and Plasma Activated Water

In their work Enhanced seed germination and plant growth by atmospheric pressure cold air plasma: combined effect of seed and water treatment¹⁰, L. Sivachandiran and A. Khacef studied the combined effect of non-thermal plasma treatment of water and seeds on the rate of germination and plants growth. For this purpose, they used a dielectric barrier discharge in air under atmospheric pressure, at room temperature.

As can be seen in Figure 3, the results show a positive effect of the seeds and water plasma treatment for tomato and pepper plants. We can note that in the case of untreated tomato seeds, there is no significant difference in plant growth when watered with Tap Water (TW) or Plasma Activated (30min) Water (PAW-30) whereas for untreated pepper seeds a significant growth is observed when watered with PAW-30 as compared to TW. Therefore, they concluded that the effect of plasma treatment of seeds and water on plant growth probably depends on the nature of the seeds. Finally, for longer exposure times of seeds and water to the plasma a detrimental effect was observed therefore the plasma treatment time must be optimized for each seed.

LTPs potentially offer novel ways to enhance seeds germination, plants growth, crop yields, to protect crops thus increasing the production with less impacts on the environment. The effects of cold atmospheric or low pressure plasma on plant growth, development, and sustainability have been verified by abundant experimental data. Indeed, many papers have reported promising results in this wide variety of applications. However, available experimental data are biased toward laboratory conditions and evidence for the applied usage of plasma in agricultural fields and facilities is still lacking. Besides, more information about the modes of plasma action on plant production and sustainability is necessary to optimize and upgrade the plasma systems and applications. For this purpose, collaborations between plasma research scientists, plant biologists, agricultural experts, and food technologists will be needed to clarify the key mechanisms underlying plasma‐agricultural applications, and with the aims to understand, control, and scale up these new processes.

This text was written by Chloé Fromentin

References:

¹ Sunset over the corn field. [online]. Available at: [https://unsplash.com//][Accessed 27 January 2021].

² Brandenburg, R., Bogaerts, A., Bongers, W., Fridman, A., Fridman, G., Locke, B., Miller, V., Reuter, S., Schiorlin, M., Verreycken, T. and Ostrikov, K., 2018. White paper on the future of plasma science in environment, for gas conversion and agriculture. Plasma Processes and Polymers, 16(1), p.1700238.

³ Puač, N., Gherardi, M. and Shiratani, M., 2017. Plasma agriculture: A rapidly emerging field. Plasma Processes and Polymers, 15(2), p.1700174.

⁴ Sivachandiran, L. and Khacef, A., 2017. Enhanced seed germination and plant growth by atmospheric pressure cold air plasma: combined effect of seed and water treatment. RSC Advances, 7(4), pp.1822-1832.

⁵ Masafumi Ito, Takayuki Ohta, and Masaru Hori, 2012. Plasma Agriculture. Journal of the Korean Physical Society, Vol. 60, No. 6, pp. 937∼943.

⁶ Takaki K., Takahata J., Watanabe S., Satta N., Yamada O., Fujio T., and Sasaki Y., 2013. Improvements in plant growth rate using underwater discharge. J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 418 012140.

⁷ Schnabel U., Andrasch M., Stachowiak J., Weihe T., Ehlbeck J., Schlüter O., 2017. Non‐thermal atmospheric pressure plasmas for post‐harvest application of fruit and vegetable sanitation. [http://publicaciones.poscosecha.com/es/sanidad-vegetal/359-non-thermal-atmospheric-pressure-plasmas-for-post-harvest-application-of-fruit-and-vegetable-sanitation.html] (Accessed on 27 January 2021).

⁸ Jiang, J., He, X., Li, L., Li, J., Shao, H., Xu, Q., Ye, R. and Dong, Y., 2014. Effect of Cold Plasma Treatment on Seed Germination and Growth of Wheat. Plasma Science and Technology, 16(1), pp.54-58.  

⁹ Volin, J. C., Denes, F. S., Young, R. A. & Park, S. M. T., 2000. Modification of seed germination performance through cold plasma chemistry technology. Crop Sci. 40, 1706–1718.

¹⁰ Bhawana Adhikari, Manish Adhikari, and Gyungsoon Park, 2020. The Effects of Plasma on Plant Growth, Development, and Sustainability.  Appl. Sci., 10(17), 6045.

The new year has just started but we are already in full action again. On January 11 2021 the Supervisory Board gathered online for the General Assembly 2021. Topics were the achievements of the last year and lessons to be learned as well as the planning of 2021. We look optimistic into the future and expect more great work within PIONEER.

The UNEP Emissions Gap Report of this year is available! Have you heard about it? It is a yearly review showing the gap between where greenhouse emissions are predicted to be in 2030 and where they should be to avoid the worst impacts of climate change!
This year’s report, being released in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, is calling on governments to use the recovery strategies as a way to recreate our societies aiming to be more sustainable, resilient and inclusive. But what does it tell us?
First, the emissions are slowing but we still do not know if they are close to a peak. Growth in global greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions has averaged 1.4% / year since 2010, lower than the 2.4% / year from 2000 to 2009. However, dynamics at national level can differ.

Also, the gap (without COVID-19 data) is unchanged in the 2020 review since policy adjustments by the major emitters were minimum. This means that, without taking COVID-19 into account and following the current policies, we may have a mean temperature rise of 3.5°C by 2100.

This increase may be reduced if the net-zero GHG emission goals recently announced by the European Union and others are fulfilled, but the combined effects of all these goals may only cut it to 2.5 – 2.6° C, still higher than what we need (about 1.5 – 2° C).
And how did COVID affect the scenario? Projections show that CO₂ emissions reduced 7% in 2020 (range: 2–12%). This is very important and unprecedented. For example, the 2007-2008 global financial crisis led to a 0.9% reduction in CO₂ emissions.

Of course, nobody believes this is a solution, because how countries respond in the years after 2020 is more relevant, since previous analysis showed that emissions often rebound after crises. Thus, what we do from now on is what matters.
For example, if we followed the current trend (during the pandemic) we would have a decrease in 2-4 GtCO₂ e by 2030. However, the rebound may cause a smaller reduction or even an increase! On the other hand, a reduction of 15 GtCO₂e may be reached with a sustainable recovery.

We are behind the schedule but COVID-19 recovery strategies can be used to help. Governments and society, acting together, can rewrite our systems and behavior towards a more sustainable society. Especially now, after being reminded how fragile we are. For references and the full report.

This text was written by Jairo Barauna.

From November 30 until December 3 the consortium came together online for the annual evaluation meeting. During the first three days the ESRs presented their scientific work during the last year before facing the questions of their respective supervisory committee. Even though traveling is limited due to the pandemic the ESRs showed that they could already achieve quite a lot.

The last day of the meeting focused on the general course of PIONEER to ensure its succeeding also in the future.

Originally planned to take place at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany this two day workshop on November 2 and 3 was quickly transformed into an online event. Various supervisors of PIONEER participated and gave presentations: Vasco Guerra, Xin Tu, Gerard van Rooij and Richard Engeln. But also the ESRs were represented by Chloé Fromentin who talked about “Kinetic mechanisms in CO₂ – O₂ plasmas: Development of an reaction mechanism”.

Recently, Agnès Dudych from Sorbonne University took the position of project manager of PIONEER. On October 23 there was a first online get-to-know with the ESRs. A meeting with the Supervisors will follow soon. Welcome to the project Agnès!

Methane is the simplest hydrocarbon composed of a carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms forming a tetrahedral structure. This stable molecule has a global warming potential around 86 times stronger per unit mass than CO₂ on a 20-year time scale. Although methane’s emissions are less abundant than carbon dioxide emissions, it is important to address this problem.

Naturally, CH₄ emissions occurs daily from methane’s earth cycle coming from wetlands, oceans, permafrost and underwater reserves. Recently, an active leak of methane of sea-bed was discovered in Antarctica rising concerns about this natural contribution of the already unbalanced atmosphere. However, anthropogenic activity has a much larger contribution as we will see next:

 Agriculture and waste management sectors are the primary sources of methane emission counting for 227 Tg per year in 2017. This is equivalent to 277 million tons of methane released to the atmosphere (figure 1). Since farming involves the breeding of domestic livestock such as cattle, swine, sheep, and goats who produce CH₄ as part of their normal digestive process. Also, when animal manure is stored or managed in lagoons or holding tanks, CH₄ is produced. Methane is also generated in landfills as waste decomposes and in the treatment of wastewater. CH₄ is also generated from domestic and industrial wastewater treatment and from composting.

Figure 1. The global methane budget for year 2017 based on top-down methods for natural sources and sinks, anthropogenic sources, and mixed natural and anthropogenic sources. (extracted from ref. 1)

Fossil fuel and production also contributes to the overall emissions. Methane is the primary component of natural gas and is emitted to the atmosphere during the production, processing, storage, transmission, and distribution of natural gas and the production, refinement, transportation, and storage of crude oil. Coal mining is also a source of CH₄ emissions.

Both sectors, agriculture and energy production, require active and strong mitigation actions. Agriculture requires a gentler and rationed production, we all want a nice grilled steak from time to time, right? Nevertheless, different approaches are taken to address methane conversion.

Generally, methane is converted to synthesis gas via steam reforming. The synthesis gas composed of H₂/CO (best known as “syngas”) serves as a feedstock of many chemical processes, e.g., Fischer–Tropsch and methanol synthesis. However, the reaction conversion to syngas is highly endothermic and requires temperatures up to 900°C. By contrast, the partial oxidation of methane to synthesis gas can proceed to a more moderate temperature (around 500°C). Another approach is the utilization of CO₂ for the oxidation of methane known as dry reforming. Carbon dioxide conversion releases atomic oxygen that serves for the oxidation of methane whilst methane serves as a source of hydrogens leading to the formation of syngas or C₂ compounds. Also, this reaction is thermodynamically unfavorable but in this way two greenhouse gases are transformed to useful chemicals! Here is where catalysis has taken a step to promote the reaction at lower temperatures or increase the selectivity. Metal oxides as MgO or CeO₂ in combination with metallic loadings of transition metals like Ni, Pt, Pd, etc. Nonetheless, this approach has significantly improved the outcome but recent studies have used catalytic process in conjunction with plasma or an electric field leading these reactions at a milder condition. Given previous results using low temperature plasmas like Dielectric Barrier Discharges, cold plasmas are a promising route for methane conversion to a sustainable chemical industry.

This text was written by Carolina Garcia

1. Jackson, R. B., Saunois, M., Bousquet, P., Canadell, J. G., Poulter, B., Stavert, A. R., … & Tsuruta, A. (2020). Increasing anthropogenic methane emissions arise equally from agricultural and fossil fuel sources. Environmental Research Letters, 15(7), 071002.
2. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2015. (2020, September 11). US EPA. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks-1990-2015

For various reasons not all ESRs were able to attend last year’s Plasma School at Physikzentrum Bad Honnef, Germany. Therefore, every ESR who missed the opportunity last year, joined the online Plasma School from 5-15 October 2020. So despite Corona now all ESRs posses the same plasma physics knowledge!

The current COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the critical role of scientific research in understanding and managing the global challenges that we are all exposed to. In 2020, we are confronted with a world-wide and major health crisis, unprecedented in contemporary history; but tomorrow it could be global warming, or primary resources scarcity, or energy crisis. Science, technology and innovation (STI) are crucial in solving the problems of today and tomorrow. However, the Coronavirus emergency is also bringing to light the pre-existing inequality that is present in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) field.

Based on the reaction of institutions like the European Union and United Nations to the pandemic, including what has been published and organized in the past months, I would like to explore some of the possible consequences on the current disadvantages of marginalized groups as well as the outstanding initiatives that have been taken to counterattack this crisis and the broadening inequalities.

From a general point of view, one of the categories that are particularly vulnerable in the current situation are women. Despite the big steps towards equality that have been taken in the EU Member states, women still take most of the burden of the unpaid domestic workload and tending children and elderly, which is only intensified due to the lockdown and schools closing [1]. The 2016 European Quality of Life survey depicts this reality: in the majority of the Member states women still disproportionately take care of the household and of their children. Figure 1 shows the average number of hours women (orange) and men (green) declare to spend cooking and doing house chores in a week: the first is twice the latter in most countries. The trend is similar when the survey question regards the taking care and educating children [1]. Furthermore, the 2017 Eurobarometer data revealed that the common opinion regarding gender roles in most of the Eastern and Southern European Member states has not changed. A high portion of the people that participated in the survey agreed with the conservative and patriarchal gender norms of men as bread winners and of women having the role “to take care of her home and family” [1].

The 2020 JRC Science for Policy Report “How will the COVID-19 crisis affect existing gender divides in Europe?” claims that the increased in-house responsibilities as effect of lockdown could have long-term negative results on women’s labor market, as they are forced to reduce or give up the time dedicated to work, even in teleworking, to take care of domestic tasks. The JRC Report also mentions some promising tendencies, as the reversing of traditional roles due to the involvement of both partners in the household, and the social recognition of female workers in Education, Health and Social field in the front lines of the outbreak [1].

This disparity within society is reflected in the STEM field. As the situation demonstrates, it is very relevant to analyze the situation of the gender gap in research and academia in EU and explore the possible consequences of the pandemic and lockdown on women in the workforce. Figure 2 is the perfect representation of the “leaky pipeline” that has been used to describe the gender gap in STEM careers [2]. In the EU-28 states in 2016, while more than half of the students entering university are female, the vast majority of the senior positions in academia are covered by male researchers. The situation has indeed improved since 1999, but a lot has to be done to narrow the gender gap.

As Figure 2 shows, women are poorly represented in high level positions, of course this is not just a problem of academia and STEM, but it touches every career path. The scarce representation of women has been also revealed during the COVID-19 crisis. Few female figures were involved in the decision-making and managing of the emergency, nor they were in charge, as experts and scientists, of spreading reliable information on the virus and prevention [1].

When women and minorities are represented in the decision-making, inequality issues are integrated into emergency responses for more effective, inclusive and fair policies. This has been proved by the performance of the women leaders of New Zealand, Finland, Iceland, Taiwan, Germany, Denmark and Norway [3]. These Prime Ministers have stepped up promptly and contrasted the Coronavirus spreading with efficient and unconventional methods.

The situation of the health crisis is still very difficult at the moment, but there are some positive initiatives to take into account regarding STI policies and women representation.

First of all, the Coronavirus Global Response, launched by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, has pledged €15.9 billions for universal vaccination, treatment and testing [4].

UN and UNESCO have also responded actively to the crisis by organizing policy roadmaps, tools and webinars in order to keep the community and the leaders informed [4].

An example is the UNESCO’s Organization for Women Scientists for the Developing World, that has published the survey “Responding to COVID-19” to tell the experience of the researchers and professionals of their network. The inspiring stories tell how different communities have reacted to the pandemic and the impact on women throughout the world. The survey helps to highlight the impact of pandemic on universities and research facilities, particularly and unequally felt in developing countries with fewer resources for remote learning and working, and even more by women having increased responsibilities [6].

The webinar “Sharing Knowledge and Actions on COVID-19” was organized in June 2020 by the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Alumnae Network for leading women experts in virology, epidemiology, and related fields to share knowledge and explore potential collaboration. It was an opportunity to renew the support for women’s participation in science and to share experiences in order to better understand the key role played by scientists at international, national, and regional level. One point that was raised is the need to provide a platform for experts to exchange information, resources and knowledge, particularly when it comes to global emergencies [7].

In agreement to this discussion, Open Science and cooperation are the two pillars suggested by Intergovernmental Mobilization of Ministers of Science to counter COVID-19 [5]. Reliable scientific evidence is crucial for policy makers to make informed and inclusive decisions to counter and prevent such crisis. In addition, citizens are more prone to behave responsibly and demystify false information when they are informed with scientific facts by trustworthy experts. Therefore, robust STI systems and funding are found to be very important in times of emergency.

Furthermore, UNESCO advocates for Open Science, international scientific collaborations, sustainable investments in STI, and policy support to STI [5]. The agency declares that Open Science consists of a game-changer to reach the goal of equal access to STI as the human right to science. Open Science would help to increase the participation of women, minorities, and developing communities in STEM research.

Inclusivity in STI research and in policy making is the key for a more responsible and well-informed management of the challenges to be faced at national and international level. Cooperation and sharing of knowledge should be encouraged, not only for transparency and development of the scientific community, but also for the integration of whole society. In conclusion, the COVID-19 crisis should be seen as an opportunity to challenge the social dynamics in order to bridge the gender gap.

This text was written by Beatrice Musig

Sources:

[1] Blaskó, Z., Papadimitriou, E., Manca, A.R., How will the COVID-19 crisis affect existing gender divides in Europe?, EUR 30181 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2020, ISBN 978-92-76-18170-5, doi:10.2760/37511, JRC120525.

[2] https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/worldwide/japan/gender-equality-human-resources-research-and-marie-sklodowska-curie-actions

[3] Avivah Wittemberg-Cox, What do countries with the best coronavirus reponses have in common? Women leaders, Forbes, 2020 https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2020/04/13/what-do-countries-with-the-best-coronavirus-reponses-have-in-common-women-leaders/#12855ee03dec

[4] https://global-response.europa.eu/index_it

[5] https://en.unesco.org/covid19/sciencesresponse/international-scientific-cooperation

[6] https://www.owsd.net/resources/owsd-and-covid-19 [7] https://en.unesco.org/news/women-scientists-share-knowledge-and-initiatives-address-covid-19