Three Galway students awarded scholarships in Women in STEM2D programme

Ten students at NUI Galway have been awarded scholarships at a virtual ceremony as part of the Johnson & Johnson Ireland Women in STEM²D (WiSTEM²D) Award Programme.

WiSTEM²D refers to Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Manufacturing and Design.

Three Galway students were among those who received a scholarship: Karen Gillooly (Williamstown), Luka Anna Mac Lochlainn (Moycullen), and Thalyra Costa (Gort).

The scholarship recipients will receive industry mentoring and leadership training to help prepare them to pursue a career in STEM.

Anna Rafferty, Johnson & Johnson WiSTEM2D University Lead and Director of Strategy, Johnson & Johnson Campus Ireland, said that since 2016, Johnson & Johnson has supported nearly 300 female students across Ireland through the WiSTEM²D programme.

“We were delighted to extend our programme to include NUI Galway for this academic year, as we continue to work at building a diverse WiSTEM²D science community and developing a talent pipeline by nurturing and mentoring our future female STEM leaders,” said Anna Rafferty.

“Over the last two years, we have worked very hard to ensure that the recipients of this award have not missed out on any opportunities despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.”

Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, President of NUI Galway, said the students are changemakers, making history and shaping the future of the university.

“We are very proud of our 10 Johnson & Johnson WiSTEM²D scholarship students in the College of Science and Engineering,” said Professor Ó hÓgartaigh.

“By openly embracing and respecting all the talents in our society, we embrace and respect excellence.

“We are confident that the Johnson & Johnson WiSTEM²D programme will empower our scholarship students to impact positively for the public good, for our society, our people and our planet.”

There are currently around 118,000 people across Ireland working in jobs that require STEM skills. However, the CSO reports that just 25% of these roles are performed by women, with just 5% in leadership roles.