Maya Widmer

After graduating in German and English studies at the University of Zurich, she worked as scientific assistant, editor and education expert. She lectured, among others, at the universities of Zurich and Basel. She coordinated the Federal Program for Equal Opportunities at Swiss Universities from 2001 to 2004. Since then she has been a member of its steering committee until 2016. From 2004 until 2016 Maya Widmer has been in charge of gender equality in the research funding process at the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF. During this time she has been a member of the Helsinki Group and she is now alternate member of the standing working group on Gender in Research and Innovation of the European Research Area and Innovation Committee (ERAC). From 2006 to 2007 she chaired the expert group on “Women in Research Decision Making” established by the European Commission. She has also been a member Science Europe`s working group on Gender and Diversity from its start in 2014 until 2017. Following her early retirement in 2016, Maya Widmer is now working as an independent senior advisor on gender and more in higher education (GEMO Widmer). In this function she was, among others, an advisor to the European Institute of Gender Equality (EIGE).