5th EELISA Roundtable for the IDWGS 2026 - Advancing Gender Equality, Diversity & Inclusion through grassroots initiatives
Promoting gender equality and diversity is a core commitment of EELISA and a shared responsibility across all higher education institutions. Addressing these challenges requires continuous dialogue, collective reflection and concrete action. How are gender equality and diversity approached within EELISA institutions? And how do local initiatives contribute to broader European objectives? In this context, the Alliance is organising, for the fifth consecutive year, the 5th EELISA Round Table on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
Entitled “From Local Action to the European Scale: Advancing Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion through Grassroots Initiatives within EELISA”, this public round table will bring together members of the EELISA Working Group on Gender Equality and Diversity, who will present their key activities and achievements in advancing equality and inclusion in higher education across Europe and beyond. They will be followed by speakers from the diversity offices of EELISA partner institutions, who will share practical experiences, from challenges encountered to successful initiatives and highlight, how the European dimension of alliances such as EELISA shapes institutional action.
Participants will gain strategic insight into EELISA’s framework on gender equality and diversity, as well as concrete, experience-based perspectives that can be applied within their own institutions. By bringing together institutional viewpoints from across the Alliance, this session aims to stimulate collective action, foster knowledge exchange and strengthen a shared European commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion in higher education.
Meet the panel
Moderator
Manuela-Roxana Dijmărescu
Associate Professor in the Department of Production Engineering at the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Robotics, University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest. In addition to her teaching and research activities, she represents her institution in the EELISA Working Group on Gender Equality and Diversity and actively contributes to initiatives promoting equity and inclusion in higher education.
Speaker
Magda Luthay
Head of the Gender and Diversity Office at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), she leads the development and implementation of the university’s gender equality and diversity strategy, with a particular focus on increasing the representation of women in research, teaching and leadership positions, especially in STEM fields. She holds degrees in Middle Eastern Studies and Contemporary History and completed her doctoral research on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in the United Arab Emirates.
Speaker
Régula Kolar
A social science specialist and advisor in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), she provides strategic and operational support while working within the university’s confidential internal office for conflict resolution and integrity issues. She contributes to fostering a respectful academic environment and strengthening inclusive structures, and is currently developing projects within the Diversity Unit at ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences.
Speaker
Suzanne Robin-Radier
At Université PSL, she actively contributes to the development of shared European equality frameworks within the EELISA alliance. As Gender Equality and Diversity Officer, she works at the intersection of policy, coordination and practice, and coordinates the EELISA Working Group on Gender Equality and Diversity for PSL, supporting joint strategies and collaborative actions across partner institutions.
When
11 February, 11:00 a.m. (CET)
Where
Please register online to access the connection link.