Bruna Mota and Cátia Medeiros da Silva, researchers at the Centre for Management Studies at Instituto Superior Técnico (CEG-IST), were selected to be part of YoungWomen4OR initiative, launched by the WISDOM Forum (Women in Society: Doing Operational Research and Management Science), a working group within EURO (The Association of European Operational Research Societies). This initiative aims to introduce to our community emerging young women working in Operational Research, either in academia or in the industry. The CEG-IST researchers were selected among 30 candidates, together with 10 young researchers from different European higher education institutions.
I felt very pleased and honoured to receive this recognition”, says Bruna Mota. “I feel very happy and proud to have been one of the twelve women selected by the YoungWomen4OR initiative” says Cátia Medeiros da Silva, the only PhD student among the finalists.
Besides giving visibility of women in the filed of Operational Research, the YoungWomen4OR initiative aims to guide and encourage these young female researchers “to go further in their careers, through mentoring and networking programmes”, as highlighted by Bruna Mota. “Basically, it promotes interaction with women who are considered role models in the area of Operational Research, so that young researchers can themselves be a reference for future generations”, adds the CEG- IST researcher.
The selection of finalists is made considering several criteria. Bruna Mota believes that she was chosen largely due to “the scientific impact of my publications”. “I also believe that the recognition of the EURO Working Group on Sustainable Supply Chains to my PhD thesis in 2019 might also have been taken into account. This recognition and validation of our work is very important, both at European and international level”, she says.
“In my case, I think it was the combination of several factors that positively contributed to jury’s decision”, says Cátia Medeiros da Silva. “Firstly, the scientific articles I have already published increases international visibility. Furthermore, having my work supervised by professor Ana Póvoa and professor Ana Carvalho is a great asset, as well as having recently been awarded the EURO Award for the Best EJOR Paper”, she adds.
Técnico is the only higher education institution which has two distinguished researchers. According to Bruna Mota, “this reflects the increasing importance of our research center – CEG-IST – in particular the Operations and Logistics group, which is composed mostly of women”. The researcher shares “this female representativeness is something that draws a lot of attention in international conferences because it’s still a male dominated field”. “These women with whom Cátia and I have the pleasure of working daily are great references both in terms of research, teaching and university participation, as well as on a personal level. They are really great sources of motivation and inspiration”, she adds.
“These international distinctions contribute to the dissemination of the excellent work of Técnico PhD students, researchers and professors. Also very important is the research environment of our group, as it allows us to discuss our work constructively”, says Cátia Medeiros da Silva.
During the next twelve months, WISDOM will individually present the twelve young researchers who are part of the initiative and the research they are conducting.
