Biophysical Society Bulletin | January 2020

Member Corner

Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1

2021 Society Awards The Emily M. Gray Award , given for significant contributions to education in biophysics which may include classroom instruction, mentoring research scientists, developing novel educational methods or materials, promoting outreach to the public or youth, attracting new students to the biophysics field and fostering an exceptionally conducive environment for biophysics education. The Kazuhiko Kinosita Award in Single Molecule Biophysics , recognizing outstanding researchers for their exceptional contributions in advancing the field of single molecule biophysics. The Ignacio Tinoco Award , which honors the scientific contributions, work, and life of an outstanding biophysical chemist, educator, and mentor. The Founders Award , given to scientists for outstanding achievement in any area of biophysics. The 2021 Fellows of the Biophysical Society , honoring distinguished members who have demonstrated sustained scientific excellence. Awards will be presented at the 2021 Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. For information and to submit a nomination, visit www.biophysics.org/awards.

RecognizingWomen in Biophysics For the past four years CPOW has identified women with competitive contributions, solicited them to stand as candi- dates, and coordinated their nomination packages. Despite specific successes, it didn’t seem that this intentional and concerted CPOW effort bore the fruit we were looking for.

Total Nominations

Female Winners*

Female Nominees

Female Nominator

2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

97 76 72 63 60

5 /31.3% 32 / 33.3% 29 / 30.2% 6 / 40.0% 32 / 42.1% 19 / 25.0% 6 / 40.0% 33 / 45.8% 17 / 23.6% 4 / 26.7% 24 / 38.1% 17 / 27.0%

We are indebted to the Biophysical Society staff for collecting and sharing with us data that may guide the development of more effective interventions to facilitate appropriate recognition of women biophysicists. So what do these results reveal? Overall the trend is positive on several aspects (see table). First, the number of female nominees has doubled (from 16 to 32), and the number of female nominators has also doubled (from 14 to 29). Yet the percentage of female winners (and nominators) has increased only slightly, likely because the number of awards has increased, and the total nominations increased significantly (from 60 to 97). One conclusion may be that increasing the pool of women nominees may continue to be an effective intervention towards increasing the fraction of female awardees, with the desirable side effect that the overall competitiveness and prestige of the awards will increase. CPOW will continue to identify qualified women and coordinate their nominations. An interesting observation is that the success rate for women applicants is slightly higher than for men; this fact can have many causes, and it is consistent with literature that suggests that women don’t apply for awards until they feel highly competitive. As such, continuing to raise awareness about increasing success rates for women may encourage qualified award applicants to throw their hat in the ring, regardless of gender! Will you nominate a woman colleague? Or, contact any member of the CPOW with your suggestion! We will gladly do the leg work! — Gabriela Popescu , CPOW Chair 4 / 25.0% 16 / 26.7% 14 / 23.3% * Not including the Dayhoff Award, designated only for women

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