A scientific immersion for secondary school girls at the Paris Observatory
In spring 2025, Franck Razafimaharo, a physics and computer science teacher at Saint-Exupéry High School in Bourg-Saint-Maurice (Savoie), contacted the Paris Observatory to organise a school trip mainly for the girls in his classes. His goal was to show that science — and digital science in particular — is not just for boys.
For a week, 33 female and 3 male students in their final two years of secondary school visited several laboratories in the Paris region : the Curie Institute, the Institute of Natural Substances Chemistry, the Paris Institute of Nanosciences and the Paris Observatory.
At the Meudon site, the students followed the path of the solar system, observed the sun through a spectroheliograph and took part in a round table discussion with women scientists and engineers.
Five speakers shared their career paths and experiences : Yaye Awa Ba (LUX), Pernelle Bernardi (LIRA), Isabelle Bualé (LIRA), Cécile Hamy (DIO) and Florence Henry (LIRA). The rich and direct exchanges prompted many questions from the students.
The visit was so successful that a new edition is already planned for next year.
Raising awareness from an early age
On 11 February, Thibaut Paumard and Elsa Huby visited Marie Curie Primary School in Villepreux. The programme included a workshop on gender stereotypes and a presentation aimed at showing that science in general — and astronomy in particular — is open to everyone.
They drew on resources provided by the Femmes & Sciences association.
A third intervention to come
A third initiative, led by François Dulieu, is planned for the third quarter, thus extending LIRA’s commitment to equality and the promotion of scientific careers.
