Introducing the winners of Top Italian Women Scientists Club 2016

The Top Italian Women Scientists Club 2016 was launched by Onda (the National Observatory for Women Health) to celebrate the female excellences that have given a brilliant contribution in the scientific and biomedical world.

In particular, the women involved present a high scientific productivity and an impressive number of publications and citations, as highlighted by the H-Index (measuring scholars' impact in academia). The aim of the Club is to promote female researchers through networking.

Still a minority in the research world, a great number of female minds are excluded by top-research positions. In fact, as pointed out by Francesca Merzagora(Onda's Preseident), "among the Directors of research institutes or departments, only 17% of them are women".

More encouraging data come from lower research positions. In fact, at the early steps of the career, the male and female percentage is almost the same, i.e. 48% women and 52% men. Going up, male researchers are 76% while women are represented by a scarce 24%.

Thanks to this project, 38 Italian female researchers were awarded, presenting a high H-index. These women are important contributors for a number of different reasons. As highlighted by Adriana Albini (President of Onda's Scientific Committee), "these ladies' work does not only have an impact on the society, but also in the global scientific knowledge advancement. With their contributions, they have proudly achieved a high position in the 'scientific hit parade' ".

Among them, worth noting is Amalia Gastaldelli.  She currently works at the prestigious CNR and she is the only one coming from Pisa. Undoubtedly, this award was an important success for Engineer Gastaldelli's career, both at the national and international level.

The Top Italian Women Scientists Club 2016 will certainly be a landmark for young researchers and an important achievement young women in the scientific world might aim at.

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