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)

From mobile streaming to videos only intended to be seen by computers, the technology behind compression algorithms has opened a world of possibilities that goes far beyond entertainment.

Join two EPO patent examiners as they discuss how decades of global collaboration have shaped today's digital technologies, and how new approaches to video coding can improve speed, privacy and efficiency in areas like autonomous driving and smart cities.

Host: Cristina Lopes Margarido, EPO patent examiner in culinary equipment & food treating devices 

Guests: Maryse Stoufs, EPO patent examiner in video coding & compression.

Join two EPO examiners as they explore the out-of-this-world to everyday advancements made possible by 3D printing.

From printing tools in outer space to creating smart safety coatings for cell batteries to help protect children, discover the materials science behind these additive and powder technologies. Get insight into what makes these breakthroughs truly “out of the box,” and what it's like to examine inventions at the forefront of innovation.

Host: Cristina Lopes Margarido, EPO patent examiner in culinary equipment & food treating devices 

Guest: Inga Helgadóttir, EPO patent examiner in additive & powder technology