The problem of gender imbalance in Polish science is a clear and widely documented fact confirmed by numerous scientific studies. The gender imbalance affects both women and men depending on scientific disciplines and the level of scientific careers. The sources of this situation, leading to morally unacceptable exclusion of certain demographic groups and the underutilisation of society's full intellectual potential, are both 1) cultural and social aspects and the associated prejudice and discrimination, and 2) institutional aspects, including, inter alia, low and unequal salaries and the widespread use of anachronistic models of assessing scientific excellence that exclude non-traditional career paths and ways of conducting scientific research. In order to broaden the public dialogue on the gender imbalance in science in Poland, on 10.02.2023, the Polish Young Academy of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), together with the National Science Centre, the Office of Science Promotion of the PolSCA PAS in Brussels and the Research Centre for Women's Participation in Public Space of the UAM in partnership with the L'Oreal Foundation, organised a conference entitled “Research excellence has no gender”. The event, attended by representatives and authorities of many organisations of the scientific community in Poland, inaugurated a long-term programme under the name “Research excellence has no gender”. The event aimed to draw attention to the existing disparities in science and the need to develop and introduce changes to reduce these disparities.

Surfactants after their use are discharged into aquatic ecosystems. These compounds may be harmful to fauna and flora in surface waters or can be toxic for microorganisms of the activated sludge or biofilm in WWTP. In order to determine effectiveness of different advanced oxidation processes on the degradation of surfactants, in this study the degradation of anionic surfactants in aqueous solution using photolysis by 254 nm irradiation and by advanced oxidation process in a H2O2/UVC system was investigated. Two representatives of anionic surfactants, linear alkyl benzene sulphonate (LAS-R11–14) and ether carboxylic derivate (EC-R12–14E10) were tested. The influence of pH, initial surfactant concentration and dose of hydrogen peroxide on the degradation was also studied. Results show outstanding effectiveness of the H2O2/UVC system in the removal of surfactant from aqueous solutions.