The KIF Annual Meeting 2024 was held on June 4th, 2024, in the historical Auditorium A at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen. The theme for the meeting was “Mentorship and Career Advancement” and on the agenda was the 2024 KIF Prize, a keynote presentation by Professor Anja Boisen, and a discussion session on the theme of the meeting!

Welcome presentation

KIF Chairwoman, Maren Malling, opened the meeting with a brief introduction to KIF as a network for women in physics founded in 1992 at the Niels Bohr Institute, and by giving an overview of the activities of the past year. She talked about KIF’s work to promote the visibility of women in physics both in academia and industry by sharing stories on our website and social media, organizing events and collaborating with organizations with similar goals, such as NORNDiP (Nordic Network for Diversity in Physics). The presentation can be found here.

KIF Chairwoman Maren Malling opens the annual meeting with a brief overview of the activities of KIF. Photo: Cecilie Hede Cold

The next point on the agenda was the presentation of the 2024 KIF Prize winner, and this turned out to be quite a surprise to many of the attendees!

The 2024 KIF Prize Goes to …

For the first time ever, the KIF Prize was awarded to three nominees in the same year! We had received a record number of outstanding nominations this year, and the evaluation committee made a special request to award three exceptional women who made such an impression that they were unable to select only one. These three women distinguished themselves as role models in a way that they are equally deserving of the KIF prize:

⭐ Desiree Della Monica Ferreira, Senior Scientist, DTU Space

⭐ Miriam Galbiati, CEO, Glaze Life Sciences

⭐ Marianne Vestergaard, Professor, Niels Bohr Institute

An event celebrating the winners and putting a deserving spotlight on the professional accomplishments and important work each of them do as mentors and role models has been scheduled for September 19th! At this event, all three KIF Prize winners will give a presentation about their work and career. More information will be announced soon here on the website.

Thank you to the evaluation committee: Anja C. Andersen, Elisabeth Ulrikkeholm and Klaus Mølmer.

The 2024 KIF Prize winners: Marianne Vestergaard, Desiree Della Monica Ferreira and Miriam Galbiati. Photo: Cecilie Hede Cold.

Keynote by Professor Anja Boisen

The keynote speaker was Professor Anja Boisen, Head of the Drug Delivery and Sensing (IDUN) Section at DTU Health Tech.

Anja talked about the research done by her team developing micro- and nano sensors and microdevices for drug delivery. She also shared stories from her personal journey through academia. Anja started an industrial PhD in 1994, and already two years after completing the PhD, she received funding through the FREJA program which was earmarked for young female talent to start their own research groups. Since then, Anja and her research group have raised millions of kroner in funding and made invaluable contributions to science. One of the things she emphasized in her presentation was the importance of a truly diverse research team.

Professor Anja Boisen from DTU Health Tech gave the keynote presentation. Photo: Cecilie Hede Cold.

Discussion session on the theme of Mentorship and Career Advancement.

After the coffee break, a discussion session was held among the participants. Cecilie Hede Cold and Helene Hagemann moderated the session and opened with a question for Anja Boisen:

“What are some of the concrete ways you mentor and guide the younger researchers in your group, and how has it changed over the years as your role as a mentor and group leader has changed?“

The discussion then touched on topics such as mentoring and advising younger researchers and students, on balancing being a parent and a scientist, and on the importance of having mentors as a young person. The discussion ended with some of the senior attendees emphasizing the importance of visibility, saying that by just being present as a gender minority in physics, you are making a difference.

General Assembly and elections for the board

After the meeting, the general assembly was held. Chairwoman Maren Malling presented the report for the year, and the 2023/2024 financial statement was presented.

The proposed amendments to the articles of association, which had been sent to our members in due time with the call for the general assembly, were discussed. The motivation for these amendments is primarily to be more inclusive, especially of other gender minorities in physics, and to encourage allyship. The language of the articles has been updated to reflect this motivation. The proposal was unanimously approved. 

Under the new articles of association, KIF will only have one type of membership which is open to all genders. Former support members will be transferred to full membership. The updated articles of association can be found here, and the chairwoman’s report and the minutes of the meeting can be found here.

Elections for the board were held, and four news members joined: Cecilie Hede Cold, Freja Amalie Nørby, Henriette Elisabeth Lund and Laura Slumstrup. Laura has been organizing the local KIF group events at Aarhus University for several years and had already been acting as a board member since October 2023, when Paulina Ewa Majchrzak left for a new postdoctoral position at Stanford University. Rayssa Bruzaca stepped down in the fall, as did Bianca Hansen shortly after the meeting. Thank you to Paulina, Rayssa and Bianca for their dedication to KIF over the years! Continuing (re-elected) board members are Helene Hagemann, Louise Kindt, Maren Malling, Rikke Egeberg Tankard and Sara Loric. The board will constitute itself at a meeting later this month.

More photos can be found in the gallery below (click on the photos to enlarge). Photos: Cecilie Hede Cold