The future needs her: Advancing women in STEM

Catia Bastioli
CEO, Novamont and European Inventor Award laureate
Catia is CEO and President of the Novamont Group (acquired by Versalis, part of Eni, in 2023). She has served on several high-level European Commission working groups and, since 2014, has been President of the Italian Circular Bioeconomy Cluster SPRING. Over the course of a 30-year career, she has been the inventor of numerous patent families in the fields of biopolymers and the transformation of renewable raw materials. Her work is grounded in a model of circular bioeconomy that she developed—one that focuses on territorial regeneration and places soil and water quality at its core. In 2017, she was awarded the title “Cavaliere del Lavoro” by Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic. Since early 2025, she has been an international member of the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

Marie Perrin
Founder, REEcover and Young Inventors Prize laureate
Marie is a chemist and entrepreneur. She is currently an ETH Pioneer Fellow, leading the startup project REEcover, which applies an innovative process to recover rare earth elements from electronic waste. Driven by a lifelong passion for science, she earned her master’s degree from École Polytechnique and Paris-Saclay University, followed by a PhD from ETH Zürich. In addition to her work as an inventor and entrepreneur, she is a former president of the Young Swiss Chemical Society and a former delegate to the European Young Chemist Network, where she was active in science communication and science policy. She now continues her outreach efforts on Instagram under the handle @theraredoctor, focusing on topics related to science and sustainability.

Kateřina Svíčková
Head of Sector – Gender, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission
Kateřina has more than 15 years of experience in the European Commission, where she has worked on policy development, implementation, analysis and design in various areas such as security, knowledge for policy, rule of law and gender equality. In her current role as Head of Sector for Gender in the Commission’s Directorate General for Research and Innovation, she steers the development and implementation of policies promoting gender equality in research and innovation in the European Research Area.

Frauke Logermann
Team Lead Talent & Diversity, Max Planck Society
Frauke  is a social scientist and currently the Team Lead of Talent and Diversity Management at the Max Planck Society. She leads the strategic development of organization-wide diversity and talent management programmes and brings extensive international experience from scientific and European institutional contexts. Previously, she worked as an EU Funding Consultant at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and as an Interim Project Manager at the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission. Her work focuses on inclusive organisational culture, anti-discrimination, leadership training and conflict management. Since 2025, she has also been working as a mediator.

Catalina Martinez
Senior researcher, CSIC Institute of Public Good and Policies
Catalina  is Senior Research Scientist at the Institute of Public Goods and Policies of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC-IPP) in Madrid. She holds a PhD in Economics from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Prior to joining CSIC, she worked at a competition policy consultancy in London and Brussels, as well as at the OECD in Paris within the Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation. Her research focuses on the economics of science and innovation, with particular emphasis on patents, technology markets, scientific careers, deep-tech entrepreneurship, and science–industry linkages. She has a strong interest in international comparative analysis and in assessing the impact of public policy changes. Between 2015 and 2024, she served on the board of the European Policy for Intellectual Property (EPIP) academic association, acting as Board President during the 2021/22 academic year. Since 2022, she co-ordinates the DOC-TRACK project, “STEM Doctoral Graduates and Inventive Activities in European Countries,” funded by the EPO’s Academic Research Programme.

Moderator: Victor Arribas Martinez
Stream Leader for Diversity and Transformation, EPO Observatory on Patents and Technology
Victor works at the EPO Observatory, the EPO’s hub for data and analysis on innovation trends in Europe. He leads research and engagement projects on innovation actors, diversity in research and science, and technology transfer. His work brings together patent data, economic analysis and dialogue with innovation stakeholders to support evidence-based discussions and make insights accessible to policymakers, researchers, startups and the public. He is an economist by training, educated at University College London, Sciences Po and the College of Europe.