In the last few years GÉANT has been celebrating Women’s History Month each March highlighting women within the Research and Education (R&E) community working in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) roles by interviewing them in order to celebrate their achievements and discuss the barriers they face. This year’s campaign wishes to raise visibility of women who are often perceived as working “behind the scenes”, but are actually at the forefront and with their job roles support the more technical activities of the community.
The EaPConnect partners join once again this important initiative and celebrate together the first woman featured in Women for STEM: Tetiana Preobrazhenska, Marketing Communications Manager for URAN, the Ukrainian Research and Academic Network.
Communicating in times of war
Tetiana, who joined URAN in 2018 as a marketer, is currently responsible for URAN’s marketing communications, social networks, website and international contacts and relations.
My job is to keep the R&E community in Ukraine informed about the benefits they can derive from GÉANT and URAN’s network and digital services, as well as from participating in the GÉANT community. I communicate this through posts and articles on URAN’s social media channels, newsletter and website. Since February 2022, following Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, my role has become especially vital. The extraordinary circumstances have created new needs for R&E, making it extremely important for them to learn promptly about opportunities for addressing these needs through cooperation with URAN. I reported on the opportunity to secure institutional data in clouds of leading global providers, fundraising for a university struck by a Russian missile, and aiding universities relocating from Russian-occupied cities within Ukraine. I had to work in a bomb shelter during air raids or in a dark room during blackouts caused by the Russian missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Working under such conditions was challenging and frightening, but my motivation stemmed from the understanding of how important and welcomed such information is for researchers and educators, and how useful and timely URAN and GÉANT’s assistance is for them. In dark times, helping others and believing in the importance of your actions greatly strengthens your resilience.
It is clear to see the importance of communications during such a catastrophic time, and as a community we will continue to show our love and support for URAN. Our international R&E community can be filled with highs and lows, but we come together to support one another which is what makes us so unique, and why we value building genuine and meaningful global relationships.
Read the full article on Women for STEM in the community on the GÉANT CONNECT website.
