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Don't let anyone decide your future for you. Try.

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Question: What’s one challenge you’ve faced and how did you overcome it?

Answer: The biggest challenge I faced during my academic journey was maintaining my belief and persevering despite my low grades. In high school, we had to present our career plans to all our teachers, and when I announced that I wanted to become a space engineer, my physics and chemistry teacher discouraged me and literally laughed at me.

Working in such a technical field can seem very daunting, especially coming from a family with a limited education background. I lacked confidence, and I felt that my classmates didn't take me seriously because of my low grades in high school and during my Bachelor. Furthermore, I was living in a city where I wasn't happy.

One day, I asked myself: what would I do if I didn't pursue a career in physics? The answer was nothing; nothing else motivated me when I envisioned my future. So I continued attending classes, going to retake exams, and as soon as I could, I moved to a different city for my studies.

During my final year of Bachelor, I met some kind classmates who became friends. Together, we worked incredibly hard and improved considerably. During my master's program, we were among the top students in our year and were finally taken seriously. This instilled a sense of high standards and rigor in our work and opened doors to careers in applied physics. I am currently pursuing a doctorate and working in space instrumentation on the infrared detectors for the Euclid and SVOM missions. It is a tremendous source of pride to have reached this point. I am grateful to everyone who has played a role in this journey, because life is a team work. Of course, I am also grateful to myself for continuing to strive for the future I have always dreamed of.

To sum up, I would say: believe in your dreams, and don't let anyone tell you that you're not capable.

Naomie De Araujo, PhD student at the CPPM lab

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What a journey it's been ! Driven by my dreams but backed up by my mentors and role models :) 

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What a journey it's been ! Driven by my dreams but backed up by my mentors and role models :) 

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Being a woman in science is easier today that it was 100 years ago, but it is still full of hidden traps we don't talk about openly. This is why, as women in science, we must give each other extra support, uplift each other and back each other up in difficult situations. It is especially important for senior women to back up junior women and help each generation to grow stronger and better established than the previous. I was fortunate enough to be mentored by three amazing Euclidean women at different stages in my early career, for whom I will be eternally grateful: Sarah Bridle, Bianca Garilli and Anne Ealet.

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Diane Delley, PhD candidate working on galaxy evolution with the Euclid mission

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Diane Delley, PhD candidate working on galaxy evolution with the Euclid mission

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I became a scientist because curiosity never stopped being enough. From ancient Egyptian star maps that first fascinated me as a kid, to studying galaxies with Euclid today, I’ve learned that science is built on asking questions and daring to follow them. I didn’t follow a straight path into science, and that’s okay. Along the way, mentors who believed in me made all the difference; they showed me that there is no single way to be a scientist. To every girl wondering if she belongs in science: your curiosity is already a reason to be here.

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Happy female researcher in my dream science location working in my super-beloved cloe-org project

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Sofia Contarini - International Day of Women and Girls in Science

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Sofia Contarini - International Day of Women and Girls in Science

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Don't let the barriers of the past hold you back. Your passions and ideas should be your only guide.

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While many people were baking sourdough bread in 2020, I was binge-watching astronomy videos and devouring books about the mysteries of the universe. With a degree in psychology in hand, I have long been fascinated by the inner workings of human thought and emotion; now, that same curiosity extends outward, toward the cosmos itself. I am fortunate to be involved in a particularly thrilling project, probing the secrets of dark energy and dark matter in an effort to shed light on their enduring mysteries.

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I was inspired by all the amazing women astronomers of past centuries who did fantastic science but often faced huge challenges to be recognised and rewarded.

In no particular order - Caroline Herschel, Maria Mitchell, Margaret Flamsteed, Annie Maunder, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Henrietta Leavitt, Annie Jump Cannon, Antonia Maury, Vera Rubin, Beatrice Tinsley, Margaret Burbidge - and many many more.

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I've always been fascinated by space and my first "mentors" were the men and women in my family: the men who always valued equally my opinions and my choices and the women who showed me I never have to behave according to a gender standard and I should be free to speak my mind and explore each corner of my curiosity. I'm particularly thankful for my grandma who is a woman miles beyond her generation and who thought me that life is about playing and never taking yourself too seriously. For me feeling represented and valued from a young age really shaped my confidence and my view on life and career. This is why I believe that representation and positive roles are one of the most important education pillars. Science should be made by and for everyone ✨