The Women and Girls in Science 2024 (WGS24) challenge

The Women and Girls in Science 2024 (WGS24) challenge, organised by the NATO Science& Technology Organization (STO) is an event for female university students and early career researchers, up to 30 years old. The goal of the WGS24 challenge is to inspire young women to pursue studies in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and to bring more diversity to those disciplines.The challenge launches on 8 February 2024, in celebration of the United Nations Day for Women & Girls in Science 2024 (11 February 2024), with a call for research proposals. The shortlisted participants will take part in the challenge finale at NATO Headquarters (HQ) (Brussels, Belgium) on 30 May 2024.

WGS24 Challenge:

• Scope: Participants will be asked to submit a short research proposal, guided by the following question: What research idea would you like to see NATO realise over the next five years? The proposals should address at least one of the following NATO S&T focus areas: energy security, climate change, human security, societal resilience. The ideas can either aim to solve an existing issue or prevent its evolution.
• Audience: This challenge is tailored to young female university students (bachelor, master,PhD) and early career researchers up to 30 years old, who are nationals of NATO countries.
• Description: The competition will be conducted as follows:

o Call for research proposals: The challenge starts with a call for proposals. Participants are invited to fill in a Google application form in English by 21 April 2024, 23:59 CET, encompassing their visionary ideas in 1,300 words.

o Shortlisting process: Following the submission phase, our experts will shortlist the top twelve (12) applications based on criteria including novelty, relevance, coherence, feasibility and potential positive impact on society. Shortlisted candidates will receive an invitation to the finale at NATO HQ to present their recommendations in person.

o WGS24 Finale: The finale will take place on Thursday 30 May 2024 at NATO HQ. Each participant will be allocated 10 minutes to present their idea, followed by a 5-minute Q&A session. The winners will be determined by a jury of STO experts.

o Award: The best three participants will be awarded with a trip to the NATO STO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) – a world-class scientific research and experimentation laboratory located in La Spezia, Italy.