Owning her story: Professor Dame Carol Robinson on women in STEM

From leaving school at 16 to directing  breakthrough  research  programmes  at top universities, Professor Dame Carol Robinson has had a rich and nonlinear STEM career.  Listen as she explains how persistence and practical skills helped her field hurdles while tackling imposter syndrome and a career break to raise her children. She also discusses the improvements she's seen for future generations, the importance of mentorship in academia and industry, and the value she sees in owning your story, whatever it may be.  

This conversation includes insights from the EPO Observatory on Patents and Technology's new study on the gender gap across Europe's innovation ecosystem. 

Host: Victor Arribas Martinez, Stream leader, EPO Observatory on Patents and Technology 

Guest: Professor Dame Carol Robinson, Director of the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery at Oxford University, Founder and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board at OMass Therapeutics 

More information:    

• “Advancing women in STEM. A data-driven assessment of the gender gap across Europe’s innovation ecosystem” March 2026 study from the EPO’s Observatory on Patents and Technology 

• Recording of the event “The future needs her: Advancing women in STEM” 

• Carol Vivien Robinson: Advancing biochemistry with mass spectrometry (epo.org)