Coinciding with the international women's day, three scientific authorities at Vall d'Hebron Institut of Research (VHIR) talk about this date and the situation of women in science. They are Dr. Anna Meseguer, assistant to the direction in basic research, Dr. María Jesus Carmona, member of the Scientific Internal Council (CCI) at VHIR, and Dr. Fátima Núñez, head of the person in charge of the Technical & Scientific Support Area.They are only three of the 428 women working at VHIR who every day contribute to advance in biomedical research: 325 devoted to research and support, and 76 to administration. These numbers represent almost 75 per cent of the whole personnel of the institute.VHIR counts since 2011 with a equality plan to guarantee the same conditions and opportunities to women and men as this is one of the aims of the institute. For that reason, during the last two years have been carried out concrete actions, as for instance an ethics code of equality of opportunities and fixing schedules of meetings bearing in mind the conciliation of the personal, familiar and labor life of the personnel. Dra. Anna Meseguer "M'han demanat que us escrigui alguna cosa sobre dona i ciència… Potser perquè fa molts anys que em vaig endinsar en aquesta activitat i hauria de poder desvetllar-vos algun secret! Però vet aquí que de secrets no n’hi ha gaires per ser dona i científica a la vegada. El que hi ha són reptes, sí, reptes per poder arribar a tot! Al menys això és el que ens ha passat a les dones de la meva generació que mantenim viva i desperta aquella curiositat i fascinació per entendre els processos biològics de la salut i la malaltia, alhora que tractem d’harmonitzar la nostra dedicació professional amb la vida familiar i estar a prop dels que estimem. La fascinació que sentia quan vaig començar la carrera no ha fet més que créixer dia rere dia… I és que la complexitat dels sistemes vius és infinitament més gran del que mai hagués pogut imaginar! Hem tingut la sort de viure en un temps on els avenços científics són vertiginosos… però ser dona, ser mare… és la gran festa de la vida! Compaginar-ho tot ha estat el gran repte. I s’ho valia, s’ho val, de ben segur, tot i que mantenir l’ equilibri no ha estat fàcil. Hem lluitat per guanyar-nos un lloc en aquest món competitiu i gens fàcil de la ciència, perquè hi crèiem, perquè tot plegat ens inspira i ens fa ser el que som, però alhora també perquè som mares, filles, amigues i amants! Vull pensar, veient ara els meus fills grans, que ells seran capaços de canviar les coses, faran que les responsabilitats siguin realment compartides entre homes i dones dins la llar, on les persones independentment del sexe i condició puguin desenvolupar les seves legítimes aspiracions personals i professionals sense renúncies ni males consciències del temps que hem robat als que tenim a prop per dedicar-lo a la ciència.El que he après al llarg del camí doncs, és que alguna cosa ha de canviar. Potser que compaginar-ho tot ha de deixar de ser un repte! Dra. María Jesús Cruz"Si retrocedemos en la historia hemos de reconocer que las mujeres han participado en la ciencia desde sus inicios contribuyendo a mejorar la eficacia y productividad en este ámbito. Por poner un ejemplo, Marie Curie fue la primera mujer premio Nobel y la única persona que ha obtenido dos premios Nobel en la historia. Sin embargo, aunque muchas mujeres han conseguido grandes logros y han visto reconocido su talento y su dedicación a la ciencia, en mi opinión, algunas han tenido que vencer más dificultades que otras. Afortunadamente se están haciendo muchos esfuerzos por aumentar la presencia de las mujeres en la investigación en Europa, aunque yo creo que todavía queda camino por recorrer para que la mujer tenga más presencia en los órganos de decisión, liderazgo y asesoramiento científico. A pesar de estas dificultades, en este día tan especial de la mujer trabajadora quiero terminar con un mensaje positivo, ya que tengo el pleno convencimiento de que todos estos esfuerzos servirán para que las mujeres que deciden dedicarse a la ciencia y que tienen en común su entusiasmo por el estudio y el saber tendrán en un futuro próximo una presencia equitativa en todos los ámbitos de la investigación. Felicidades a todas las mujeres trabajadoras. Dra. Fátima Núñez"Today is the 8th of March, the International Day of the Working Woman and I have been asked to write my thoughts on the very vast subject of Women in Science. Don’t worry about it – I have been told – write whatever comes to your mind on this subject. Thing is, so many things come to mind.For starters, I never gave a second thought to my gender before studying a degree in science. Never occurred to me that being a woman or a man would make a difference at all. I was brought up to believe that if I did what I was passionate about and I worked hard all would be fine. I imagine this rather naïve approach was given to me by my parents to encourage me and boost my confidence. It worked. I started a degree in Biology in the Basque Country when Biology was considered to have a very little professional projection but this never was any concern of mine. I finished my degree in Ireland and continued to do a PhD in Edinburgh University.Half way through my postdoc in Salamanca I realised that what I really enjoyed was helping others do good science. I had set up a microarray facility in the research institute I worked in and to see my work benefit the research of so many groups was a great experience. So, there and then began my diversion towards the management of research, an area where I have been able to further myself professionally and where I have found my real vocation. Again, I never thought when I took this managerial path that my gender could be an obstacle.I have never felt that I was being discriminated against for being a woman, but I have read, I have been told, I know that this happens [as a recent example Nature Vol: 495 (7439)]. I must acknowledge that in my work environment the vast majority are women: in the Direction Committee of my research institute we are 21 people of which only 6 -28.6% - are men. However, when it comes to its high management in this same institution this percentage is reversed – only 28.6% are women (2 out of 7), I’m one of them. I won’t go on to even try give my opinion on why I think this is. I don’t think it would shed any new light on the causes of this unbalance of genders in science. I believe reasons vary from the national to the regional, to the family and individual level and I don’t have the depth of knowledge to go into them. I do believe though, that we can introduce microchanges in our daily area of influence – if I’m involved in writing a proposal for a scientific career in my institution I will try to introduce those changes that I believe will encourage women in my institution to pursue a tenure track, for example. To this I can compromise. This I will try to do."