Université libre de Bruxelles

The organisation

The Universite libre de Bruxelles (ULB) consists of 13 faculties, schools and specialized institutes covering all the disciplines. Founded in 1834, the ULB has a long tradition of excellence in research with four scientific Nobel Prizes, one Fields Medal, three Wolf Prizes and two Marie Curie Excellence Awards. It is one of the largest and best Research Universities in Belgium. The university also played a pioneering role in the presence of women in Belgian universities, welcoming the first three women university students, the first woman assistant, the first woman professor and the first – and only until now – woman rector in French speaking Belgium.

What is the R&I Hub?

ULB has identified external key players of the regional and national innovation ecosystem, including academia and universities, industry players, ministries/government bodies, and public sector and civil society organisations to engage them in the GEP process.

Engaging interested and key external stakeholders in the GEP processes can bring gender balance and gender sensitiveness in transfer to the market of scientific research results, it motivates young girls to embrace STEM studies, and it promotes gender sensitive co-design of research and tech products.

ULB works with the external players of the Hub, to implement the collaborative GEP actions.  These actions facilitate institutional change internally, but also initiate a conversation among the regional and national stakeholders, to adopt and implement gender policies in their organisations.

The R&I Hub members

The R&I Hub of ULB consists of 14 organisations. Two of them belong to the academic community, three are industry players, five are civil society organisations, while four are representatives from the government and the public sector.

Two Working Groups (WG):
– The operational WG made up of professors and researchers from the two STEM ULB faculties targeted in CALIPER, together with the organisation team, is in charge of the actions directly related to the Gender Equality Plan: assessment, design, implementation and evaluation.

– The consultative WG made up of members from the high and middle management of the University as well as students, has a consultative and strategic role. It also acts as an interface between the CALIPER project and the faculties/University, assuming a communication and dissemination role.