Last Friday, 26 June, the Casa de la Ciencia of the CSIC in Valencia hosted the closing event of the first edition of WoMent, a scientific mentoring programme aimed at female doctoral researchers from CSIC centres and joint research institutes in the Valencian Community.
The initiative, promoted by the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ, CSIC-UPV), was created to support and inspire the academic and professional careers of early-stage women researchers. Through exchanges with professionals from scientific and technological fields, the programme seeks to foster confidence, broaden career perspectives and help reduce the gender gap in science.
The Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology (IBMCP, CSIC-UPV) played an active role in this first edition, contributing to the launch of the programme and through the involvement of mentors, mentees and doctoral researchers from the institute.
The closing event included the round-table discussion “Experiences and overall assessment of the Mentoring Programme”, moderated by M.ª Dolores Gómez, from IBMCP. Júlia Pérez Pérez, a doctoral researcher at the institute and a WoMent mentee, also took part in the discussion alongside participants from other centres involved in the programme.
The session provided an opportunity to share experiences from the programme, reflect on the role of mentoring in professional decision-making and gather suggestions for future editions. It also highlighted the importance of creating spaces for support, mutual learning and collective reflection during the early stages of a research career.
The event concluded with the lecture “Beyond the PhD: building a professional career in industry”, delivered by Dr Cristina Vilanova, Chief Executive Officer of Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence, followed by an open discussion with attendees.
At IBMCP, we would like to thank everyone involved for their commitment and participation. We welcome initiatives such as WoMent, which help strengthen scientific talent and support the next generation of women researchers as they develop their professional careers.
