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"Equity is the recognition that each person has different qualities and needs". Elaine Pimentel, Associate Professor, UCL Computer Science
What is your job role and how long have you worked at UCL?
I am an Associate Professor at UCL Computer Science, and started in January, 2022.
What do you do in your job role?
Oh, many things. Right now I am involved in the following projects:
- A-COMPS (Apply Competitively to STEM): a mentoring scheme for students from disadvantaged backgrounds launched at UCL Computer Science. This is a is an 18-month programme for London-based students who are interested in computer science, technology and engineering subjects and would like help on their journey into higher education.
- POTIMATICAS (Girls in Mathematica): An outreach project in collaboration with the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, which aims at encouraging girls to study Mathematics and Computer Science in the northeast region of Brazil.
- UK-Brazil Gender Equality Partnership: This is a British Council's initiative aiming at providing training, from British to Brazilian universities, focusing on proposing real actions that could be implemented in Brazil so to encourage better gender representation in the higher education sector.
- MOSAIC (Modalities in Substructural Logics: Theory, Methods and Applications): A European Marie Sklodowska-Curie Rise project in the area of Mathematical Logic. I am a member of the research team.
I am also member of the Computer Science Athena Swan at UCL, president of the Brazilian Logic Society, member of the LA committee of the Association for Symbolic Logic and treasurer of ACM SIGLOG.
Finally, I also help on the organization of many conferences in Theoretical Computer Science. This is all part of my job, together with research and teaching activities, as well as advising MSc and PhD students.
What’s the best thing about working in the Computer Science department?
This is the first time I work in a Computer Science department. During 28 years, I was a professor in a Maths department in Brazil. I find the change very challenging, but I love challenges! Also, my colleagues at UCL are very supportive, so I feel really confident. It is exciting to be here!
What challenges have you had in your career and how did you overcome them?
I think that the first challenge was to find a research area that I really loved. I have started in Chemical Engineering, then went to pure Mathematics, then started my PhD in Programming Languages and found myself in Logic.
As a consequence, I could pass through many different areas, which is interesting but, at the same time, granted me only a superficial view on subjects.
It took me a while, after finishing my PhD, to build a solid career in logic. The other problem I had during my career as a researcher/professor was the lack of financial help in Brazil. I had to basically pay for doing research. So one has to be really passioned about it.
What things do you wish you’d known before starting your career?
Hm, not exactly I'd known, but I wish we had this kind of support network for women when I started my career.
I would have felt a lot safer, and I think I could have helped more colleagues and students with an organised movement. On the other hand, it was rewarding to help building the net in Brazil, 5 years ago.
What advice do you have for people who want to do what you do?
You should be patient, persevering. It is a long, hard way, sometimes difficult, sometimes joyful, with many ups and downs. There are times I get really really happy because I can prove a hard theorem, or get a paper accepted, or a student under my supervision graduates.
But there are other times where I have many bureaucratic things to do, and I get lost in the amount of duties, find no time for doing research, or cannot prove a result... Quite frustrating!
Then it is time to organize life, think about something else, establish realistic goes and move on. The important thing is not to give up!
What’s the best thing about your job?
The flexibility of working in a subject I love, and the contact with students. I really love teaching and doing research!
What does equity mean to you?
Equity is the recognition that each person has different qualities and needs, so to be able to propose different opportunities to different individuals, in order to reach an equal outcome. In my point of view, it is core for addressing imbalanced social systems.
I come from a country with a huge social inequality. Without tackling this problem and proposing long-term, sustainable, equitable access for everyone, the society as a whole is doomed to fail. I think that the same holds for academia.
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
Fight for your dreams!
Who inspires you and why?
Oh, I have had many inspirations in my life: my parents who were always supportive, my PhD advisor (Dale Miller -- INRIA/France) who showed me a whole new word (and still does!).
My female co-authors Simona Ronchi della Rocca, Valeria de Paiva and Agata Ciabattoni, which are great names in logic, Carlos Olarte, who is my partner, but also my co-author and showed me the computational aspect of my research topic...
My inspirations come mostly from people that I know.
What professional achievement are you most proud of and why?
In my career, I am mostly proud of 2 things: having had the honor of advising Giselle Reis and Mario Sergio Alvim, former master students and now friends and recognized researchers; and being accepted as part of PPLV, the research group at UCL led by David Pym.
I have never, in my whole academic life, been part of such a lively academic research group, with many interesting and diverse research interests. I feel so welcome here that, sometimes, it feels like I am living a dream.
Where would you like to be in 5 years?
Oh, I would like to establish a solid career at UCL, be able to continue supporting outreach projects in Brazil, continue to be part of the Athena Swan project and move beyond, who knows where!