Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland awarded European Gender Equality Champion Prize


Maura O'Shea

By Maura O'Shea

Posted: 3 March, 2025

Ms LIz Hughes, Head of EDI at RCSI with Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva

Photo: Ms Liz Hughes, Head of EDI at RCSI with Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva

The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) was announced as the Inclusive Gender Equality Champion for 2024. The awards were announced on 3 March 2025 at a ceremony in Brussels, by Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, and Marc Tachelet, Director at the European Research Executive Agency.

In 2022, the European Commission launched an EU Award for Gender Equality Champions to recognise and celebrate significant achievements in the implementation of gender equality plans by academic and research performing organisations.

This award for RCSI follows previous winners from Irish higher education institutions: Trinity College Dublin, Maynooth University and South East Technological University in the 2022 edition of the awards, and Technological University of the Shannon in the 2023 edition.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless, TD said:

“I wish to congratulate RCSI on their achievement which once again signifies that our universities are leading the way at EU level on gender equality.  I am delighted to see RCSI getting the recognition they deserve for the incredible work they are doing to create more equitable university campuses”

Head of EDI at the Higher Education Authority, Sheena Duffy said:

“Congratulations to RCSI on this achievement which is testament to the institution’s achievements in implementing its Gender Equality Plan. The success of Irish HEIs in the EU Gender Equality Champions awards acknowledges the collective efforts being undertaken to tackle inequality across the higher education sector.”

The HEA’s Second National Review of Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions, published in 2022, sets out recommendations to ensure the continued advancement of gender equality in the higher education sector.

Notes

Background Information on the EU Award for Gender Equality Champions

First edition in 2022

This award introduced in 2022 is the European Commission’s initiative to recognise and celebrate the outstanding results achieved in the implementation of gender equality plans by academic and research organisations.

The 2022 winners were announced by Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, in an Award Ceremony facilitated by Peter Dröll, Director for Prosperity in DG Research and Innovation. Three of the four prizes were awarded to Irish higher education institutions.

Trinity College Dublin were named Sustainable Gender Equality Champions, an award that recognises organisations that can demonstrate a significant and sustained record of activity and a high level of achievement through the implementation of their Gender Equality Plan.

Maynooth University were winners in the Newcomer Gender Equality Champions category, which recognises organisations that have recently started implementing a Gender Equality Plan and can demonstrate the most progress in its implementation and achieved results.

Finally, South East Technological University were named as Inclusive Gender Equality Champions, an award that recognises organisations that have developed the most innovative inclusive Gender Equality Plan addressing intersections with other social categories such as ethnicity, social origin, sexual orientation and gender identity (LGBTI+) or disability.

Second edition in 2023

Technological University of the Shannon were announced as the Newcomer Gender Equality Champion for 2023. Th Newcomer Award recognises organisations that have recently started implementing a Gender Equality Plan and can demonstrate the most progress in its implementation and achieved results. The awards were announced on 15 May 2024 at a ceremony in Brussels, by Iliana Ivanova, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth and Marc Lemaître, Director General for Research and Innovation, European Commission.

 

Why there is a prize

The EU Award for (Academic) Gender Equality Champions aims to:

The prize also intends to raise public awareness of the importance of addressing gender equality in academic and research organisations through institutional change and incentivise a high degree of commitment to implementing inclusive gender equality plans.

The prize will create a community of champions which can inspire other academic and research organisations to become gender equality champions themselves.

The European Research Executive Agency (REA) manages the prize. Winners are selected by an independent expert jury for each prize category.