KMi Research Fellow, Miriam Fernandez, received a Commendation from the STEM-Executive-Dean, Nick Braithwaite, at the STEM Faculty Assembly today. Miriam was nominated by her KMi Director on behalf of her colleagues. The commendation is recognised with a £250.00 award which can be used towards conference fees and travel/accommodation costs
Miriam has lead a refreshed commitment in KMi since 2017 (where the department successful achieved a bronze Athena SWAN award) to put diversity, equality and engagement in advancing careers transparently, in particular for women at the forefront of our agenda.
The impact Miriam’s actions have made are difficult to quantify, however, there are many examples that highlight her commitment and energy to this cause I would like to share and celebrate, to name a few; Miriam set up and led KMi Athena Swan group and application, she regularly monitors our progress against the action plan. She led the changed on the membership, structure and proves models for the KMi staffing committee and oversees the messaging/communication that is delivered to staff on these matters. Miriam led the organisation of the Athena Swan Groups Unconscious bias training for the Management group in 2018 and the Promotions Workshop in 2019. She has driven the transformation of KMi’s induction process for new academic staff.
Miriam, a Senior Research Fellow and a member of KMi’s Social Data Science group research is at the intersection of Web Science and Semantic Web Communities. She has contributed with more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in various leading conferences and journals. She extensive experience in leading EU and national group grants and has been co program chair at a number of leading conferences in the field.
Miriam is a true asset to KMi and the Open University not only as a senior researcher but as a true advocate and inspiration for equality and change.
Miriam said, “THANK YOU SO MUCH to both for the thought, time and effort of putting this case forward! It means a lot to me, and I am very very grateful for it! I have asked the deanery to transfer the award to the Athena SWAN team, so that anyone in the team – or more than one person in the team- can use it; for example, it could support some staff to attend online events aimed to develop female leaders.”