The Australasian Women in Neuroscience Group

The ANS is proud to support the launch of the Australasian Women in Neuroscience group, supported by both ANS and the Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society (ACNS). The goal for this new group is to provide a safe space for open, non-judgemental discussion and sharing of ideas regarding issues important for women in neuroscience, and neuroscience-related or associated disciplines.

AWINS will initially centre around a closed Facebook page, where participants can share and discuss any issues they find important – from current news, gender and social issues, career advice, parenting, personal questions – and of course, neuroscience! We hope to develop a supportive environment for any person identifying as a woman in neuroscience at any career level, so come and visit us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/women.in.neuroscience/ and say hi! If you don’t identify as a woman, please feel free to pass this on to anyone you know who does!

The page is promoted by and supports the gender equity policies of ANS and ACNS, but is independent from these two Societies. You don’t need to be a member of either Society, or in a discipline that is strictly defined as ‘neuroscience’ – neurologists, psychophysiologists, neurotrauma researchers - anyone with an interest in neuroscience in the Australasian region is welcome to join. Please pass on this email to people you think may be interested.

The page will be lightly moderated, so you can post under your own name, or anonymously by emailing our moderators at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

We hope to be chatting with you soon!

Lindy Fitzgerald & Sharna Jamadar

Australasian Women in Neuroscience

Equality in scientific program participation:

ANS Hobart 2016 conference

Prior to ANS 2016 the ANS local organising committee and ANS council identified a strong need for greater participation by female early-career researchers. Gender balance was carefully considered for oral sessions by the programming committee and the resulting programme achieved a 30% representation of female scientists across symposia, involving;

  • 13 early-career researchers
  • 12 mid-career researchers
  • 11 associated professor or professor level

Despite these assessments however, ANS wishes to acknowledge that plenary representation for Hobart 2016 was less than ideal.

In light of these findings, ANS has identified a greater need for the nomination of female scientists for plenary talks to allow the council to maintain a more equal gender balance at 2018 ANS Conference.

Sydney 2017

2 female and 2 male plenaries confirmed.

Thanks to Ruth Empson for providing the ANS Hobart 2016 data.