The inspiring stories of three eminent female astronomers who lived between 1750 and 2016 will be presented by Prof. Jocelyn Bell Burnell followed by reflection on the position of women in astronomy around the world today.
Jocelyn Bell Burnell is a world-renowned astrophysicist who inadvertently discovered pulsars as a graduate student in Radio Astronomy in Cambridge, opening up a new branch of astrophysics – work recognised by the award of a Nobel Prize to her supervisor. She has subsequently worked in many roles in many branches of astronomy, working part-time while raising a family. She is now a Visiting Academic in Oxford, and the Chancellor of the University of Dundee, Scotland. Prof. Burnell has been President of the UK’s Royal Astronomical Society, in 2008 became the first female President of the Institute of Physics for the UK and Ireland, and in 2014 the first female President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She was one of the small group of women scientists that set up the Athena SWAN scheme. She has received many honours, including a $3M Breakthrough Prize in 2018. The public appreciation and understanding of science have always been important to her, and she is much in demand as a speaker and broadcaster. In her spare time, she gardens, listens to choral music and is active in the Quakers. She has co-edited an anthology of poetry with an astronomical theme – “Dark Matter; Poems of Space”.
In English, interpretation to Bulgarian provided.
The event will be broadcast live online only in front of the audience at Sofia Tech Park.
Due to the epidemic situation, changes in the programme may occur – both in the dates and times of the events and in the mode of delivery (digital or live). Please follow the festival page for the latest information.