Award Categories
1. Women Empowerment Award
This award recognises a European company/organisation from the railway sector that has gone the extra-mile in making gender-mainstreaming a top priority and fully integrated in its day-to-day decisions and DNA. The nominee committed to a gender-equal policy that led to concrete improvements e.g. in safety, the work environment, work-life balance, education, career opportunities, care facilities etc, and took concrete measures in this respect.
The nominee dedicated specific resources (human and financial) to the above measures. The nominee made efforts to reach out into and beyond the rail sector to promote women in rail, for example by designing info campaigns in schools and universities, hence played a substantial role in improving the image of the rail sector as an attractive place to work. Applications can be submitted by companies/organisations.
2. Leadership and mentoring Award
This award recognises a woman in the railway sector who has demonstrated exceptional leadership and mentoring through concrete actions for promoting women in the sector, thus making a positive impact on the company or organisation.
The nominee has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to promoting inclusion and diversity for example by making efforts to recruit locally, by taking specific action in order to attract a diverse workforce, e.g. by reaching out to vulnerable groups of persons in schools, universities, participating in relevant events, fairs, etc. The nominee has implemented concrete actions in the workplace for more and better inclusion through mentoring and training and to make the work environment more attractive for all staff.
Applications can be submitted by companies/organisations (nominating an individual) or by individuals.
3. R&I in Railway Award
This award recognizes a female engineer or a woman working on technical aspects, from academia and/or from the railway industry with outstanding results of concrete research activities that positively impacted the European railway industry. The nominee has inspired and acted as a role-model to others in their company or organisation, or to women who wish to go for a research and innovation career in the rail sector.
Applications can be submitted by companies/organisations (nominating an individual) or by individuals.
Who can apply?
The Women in Rail (WiR) Award is directed and open to any team, company, organisation, or individual from the railway sector having distinguished themselves in one of the categories listed above. Nominations should be based on projects, initiatives, or measures with concrete outcomes. Nominations can come from candidates themselves or any interested organisations.
Eligibility criteria
The project/initiative/activities/measures should be running since at least 1 year.
The project/initiative/activities/measures should contribute to the Global Agenda SDG5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Selection criteria
- Relevance
- Innovative approach
- Inclusion and equity (for Women Empowerment Award and Leadership and Mentoring Award)
- Impact
- Replicability, scalability and sustainability
How to apply
The award recognises the work of a woman or a group of people led by a woman having demonstrated achievements bringing the EU railway sector forward and/or overcoming obstacles for other women to thrive in the railway sector, or a company/organisation’s outstanding efforts in this regard.
Candidates can apply by filling out the application form for one of the three award categories before 31 May 2024 (midnight, CET).
Candidates will be notified about the results by 30 June 2024.
Contact
For further information, please contact communication
rail-research [dot] europa [dot] eu (communication[at]rail-research[dot]europa[dot]eu) or +32 (0)2 541 83 74.