RESEARCH FUNDING, GRANTS, ACTIVITIES: FOR SUBSCRIBERS

For my subscribers who may be interested in research grants and funds, here are some of the available grants and research activities, for your information. Please go to the website of the relevant institution for the details.

Medical research grants: Bethlehem Griffiths Research Foundation, AU These support research projects on progressive neurological disorders, stroke and palliative care. Grants are worth between AUD 20,000 and AUD 50,000 each for one year. Maximum award: AUD 50,000 Closing date: 22 Aug 2022 (recurring)

Travel grants: Society for the History of Technology, US These grants support travel to the Society for the History of Technology annual meeting. Grants are worth up to USD 1,000. Maximum award: USD 1,000 Closing date: 15 Aug 2022 (forecast)

Discussion on genomic tools and technologies! Ad Explore the latest genomic approaches used in health and disease research, with Wellcome Connecting Science. Network with global experts from multidisciplinary fields. Registration open for hybrid conferences on CRISPR, Proteomics, and Genome Informatics.

COMING SOON: Junior research fellowships: University of Cambridge, GB *** This opportunity will be available soon. The next call is expected to open on 28 June 2022 and close 25 August 2022. The following information is subject to change. These fellowships enable researchers to pursue research in Cambridge on a topic of their choice for up to four years with no further duties. Fellowships include an annual stipend and a housing allowance, as well as other fellow privileges. *** Maximum award: Not known Closing date: 25 Aug 2022 (recurring)

Ahmanson/Getty postdoctoral fellowships: University of California, US These promote junior scholar participation in the centre’s core programme. Fellowships are worth USD 54,540 each for three quarters of a year. Maximum award: USD 54,540 Closing date: 01 Feb 2023 (recurring)

Philippine Lawbytes 216: The Terrains of Sexual and Gender Based Violence Against Women and LGBTQIA+ (or the Vast Unacknowledged Sexual and Gender Variants), © by Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal

A brief Backgrounder:

The University of the Philippines Cebu System instituted, via its Office of Anti-Sexual Harassment and its Gender and Development Office, the first responders’ Drill training on Anti-Sexual Harassment. The training is quite novel and radical because the perspective is that anyone can be a first responder to any victim of sexual harassment, not just persons of authority. I was fortunate to have been hired by them to conduct two training sessions. I wrote about the first session in “Philippine Lawbytes 213: The First Responders’ and Survivor’s Training in Electronic Evidence on Online Sexual Harassment and Violence in the UP Cebu System“, which you can read in the April 2022 content of this blogsite.

Title Slide Powerpoint of Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal June 6 2022 Training Course UPCEBU Anti-Sexual Harassment Drill for First Responders

In my second training session, I chose to apprise the participants of several different things which I noticed have not been done, or not sufficiently done by Philippine training providers on this same subject, so as to give them a broader view of why violence against women and LGBTQIA+ people are rampant, particularly in South and Southeast Asia. Situationally, China and India are the biggest skewers of sex preference for males. In a 2021 world population count according to biological sex, the ratio of males to females would be 1 to 1 if these two countries would be excluded. Their inclusion upped the ratio to 1.07 to 1 in favor of males. Culturally, these two countries are among several states where female infanticide is practiced, and the discrimination, violence and even killings of women are deeply rooted in their beliefs and institutions. Infant brides are a reality in China and dowry killings are still practiced in India.

UPCEBU Poster June 6 2022 Training lecture Dr.Atty.Noel G. Ramiscal for First Responders on Anti-Sexual Harassment

Apart from the statistics of violence, I showed the first responders examples of philosophies, religious beliefs, rituals, and historical evidence where the supposed inferiority of women and those of alternative sexual and gender ideations (LGBTQIA+) are inculcated, rationalized and used to subjugate, abuse and kill them, or equally worse, make them invisible in society. The extrajudicial killings of gay men, the “curative” raping of lesbians, the institutional treatment of transwomen as prostitutes, the real and online hate crimes perpetrated against those who cross some imaginary gender line, are an actual day to day reality, and yet too few statistics, and studies have been made on these. In fact, most statistics on sexual violence and abuse all over the world, and not surprisingly in the Philippines, do not factor sexual orientation and gender identity of the victim. This is a subtle way of not recognizing the existence, and therefore the human rights and interests of people who profess and practice their sexual and gender variance, from the dominant cisgender society.

UP CEBU ZoomYouTube Photoop June 6 2022 First Responders’ Training on Anti-Sexual Harassment

One of the most effective ways of keeping the status quo is making people ignorant of the vast and rich sexual and gender variance of people across countries, cultures and humanistories. Most Philippine people would probably know of only five genders: girl, boy, bakla/bading, tomboy/tibo, and trans. In my personal and professional journey, I have uncovered over (ninety) 90 sexual and gender variants, and I think there is more. Philippine training providers do not delve so much on these variances for reasons I cannot fathom. So, to differentiate and make my training session useful, I discussed about (sixteen) 16 sexual and gender variances, to help pave the way for understanding and normalizing the truth about these variances, which is: they are an essential part of a human’s being, character, growth, expression, and Life. To deny these variances would be to deny the Humanity and Life of the person.

In keeping with the recognition of sexual and gender variances, I made special mention of the use of the correct pronouns in addressing people. I lauded the fact that the person who introduced me in the first training session for UP Cebu, specifically asked for my pronouns. To most Philippine people there are only two sets of personal pronouns that they know and recognize: he/him/his and she/her/hers. They would probably more than raise their eyebrows if a person would come to them and say “I am they/them/theirs” which would be what pansexuals would use to refer to themselves. Moreover, as the world and language evolve in understanding sexual and gender variance, neopronouns have sprung-up to articulate this reality. Thus, I introduced the first responders to the neopronouns that include “xe/xem/xyrs” and “ne/nem/nirs”. Using the correct pronouns is a sign of respect for the sexual/gender variant person. Ignoring this had ended relationships in different parts of the world.

Comment on Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal’s June 6 2022 UPCEBU LGBTQIA+ Training Session

I spent some time discussing the plight of intersex people, because again, this is another matter that Philippine training providers do not generally discuss. Intersex people are those who are born with genitalia that are quite ambiguous, or do not conform to the usual appearance or “standard” of what a penis or vagina should look like or be, or in rare cases, have both genitalia. I cannot find any Philippine study or survey regarding the existence and treatment of people with this condition. We have one Supreme Court case, Republic v. Cagandahan, where the court recognized the right of an intersex person to change their name and “sex” on public records to conform to the later development of their genitalia, their chosen sexual orientation, and their gender identity. That is well and good, but that is just one case. Horrible cases with tragic consequences have been documented around the world, of genital mutilation performed by doctors on intersex infants who thought they can train these babies to act, mature and live the way they should with the genitalia these brazen doctors assigned and carved out/from the skin and tissues of these children. The Philippine medical, healthcare, legal and social welfare professions and industries should address the current gaps in understanding the situation and hazards faced by Philippine intersex people.

UP CEBU JUNE 6 2022 Certificate of Appreciation to Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal

Furthermore, I discussed the travails of some of the most vulnerable LGBTQIA+ people which include transpersons, neurodivergent and differently abled people, indigenous peoples, and the elderly who have suffered much abuse of all types, as documented by several UN and other international organizations involved with the protection of human rights. Of most pressing concern are the LGBTQIA+ who are elderly with debilitating diseases that result in loss of memory, and those who belong to the autistic spectrum disorder class who are non-verbal. Both groups are in danger of suffering the most virulent types of sexual abuse and violence by opportunistic predators like their caregivers. So I gave the first responders some of the signs and telltale warnings of sexual abuse of these people. Again, these matters are not tackled by training providers in the Philippines, for reasons that I have yet to understand.

I would like to thank the UP Cebu OASH, GAD Office and the insightful inimitable Atty. Archill Capistrano who has valiantly led this progressive program for the UP Cebu System, for allowing me full autonomy to create my training course and the space to share my knowledge and advocacy for LGBTQIA+ rights borne from over three decades of searching for the answers to my own questions and those of my clients. And a big shout out to all the first responders who completed my training sessions and were able, I trust, to connect the issues, philosophies, facts, evidence and beliefs I brought to their attention, and come up with a deeper understanding of the bravery and authenticity of existence that women and LGBTQIA+ survivors of sexual violence bear.

As we celebrate the Pride Month of 2022, and in the future, here is to a kinder and less judgmental world!

Philippine Lawbytes 217: Ada Lovelace and Alan Turing: Two Figures that Stand Starkly Against the Toxic Masculinity in the STEM Industries, © Dr. Atty. Noel Guivani Ramiscal

It is a reality that women and LGBTQIA+ people in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields are actually vastly underrepresented, and in some cases, bear the brunt of sexual and other forms of abuses.

One very recent example was the 2021 suit brought against Activision Blizzard, the very popular developer of online games like World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Guitar Hero, by the California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing. The state suit alleged among many others, the company is a “breeding ground for sexual harassment, with male workers fostering a “frat bro” culture full of rape jokes, crude comments and groping, that even drove one female employee to suicide… due to a sexual relationship that she had been having with her male superior.” At a holiday party before her death, the woman’s male co-workers allegedly passed around a photo of her vagina, and after her death, police reportedly found that her unnamed male supervisor had “brought a butt plug and lubricant on this business trip.”

In March 29, 2022, Judge Dale Fischer of the U.S. District Court for California’s Central District, approved of a US$18,000,000 settlement by Activision Blizzard with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after the government agency found evidence of sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination and related retaliation at the company. The settlement comes in the wake of Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, as part of its bid for becoming a major player in the creation of the Metaverse.

UPCEBU Poster June 6 2022 Training lecture Dr.Atty.Noel G. Ramiscal for First Responders on Anti-Sexual Harassment

In my second training session for the University of the Philippines Cebu system for their first responders in Anti-Sexual Harassment drill, an undercurrent theme is “Girls in ICT”. I provided examples of two real historical persons that can serve as inspirational figures to women and LGBTQIA+ people who are wondering if they are enough, or questioning their abilities and their beings, after suffering bullying and other forms of abuses in the STEM fields.

ADA LOVELACE (1815-1852): THE FIRST COMPUTER PROGRAMMER

Lady Ada King, later Countess of Lovelace, was born to royalty and her mother, Anna Isabella Milbanke, encouraged her to study and pursue mathematics and science so she would not suffer the “lunacy” of her father, the Romantic poet Lord George Byron who had affairs with both men and women, and who was abusive to her mother, which caused their early separation.  

Ada was an English mathematician and writer, and known arguably as the first computer programmer. She befriended Charles Babbage, the renowned mathematician, who worked on a machine called the Analytical Engine, which he never completed. Mathematician Luigi Menabrea wrote a short article on this machine for a Swiss academic journal. Ada translated it from French to English and expanded the article with her own notes, turning an 8,000-word essay into a 20,000-word paper in 1843 (Who is Ada Lovelace and why are we celebrating her?, Medium, 2021).

Ada Lovelace daguerreotype by Antoine Claudet circa 1843-1850

Ada described with great clarity and completeness how the machine would work and its potential uses, including calculating a long sequence of Bernoulli numbers and creating language and music. Her elaborate descriptions transformed the machine into a computer program. Her notes were lost then recovered and published in 1953. A hundred years after the fact, and long before any computer was invented, her notes contained the basis for a computer language (see Elizabeth Hilfrank, Ada Lovelace, Kids National Geographic, 2021). It was due to these that scientists and historians generally consider her as the first computer programmer or the inventor of scientific computing.

The Babbage historian Bruce Collier however had argued that her contribution had been greatly overstated, saying “it is no exaggeration to say that she was a manic depressive with the most amazing delusions about her own talents and a rather shallow understanding of Charles Babbage and the Analytical Engine.” (Medium article). The criticisms were all directed at her “emotional” state as a woman, and not as an intellectual and mathematical equal of Babbage.

Her work with Babbage had inspired mathematics greats like Alan Turing who was instrumental in furthering computer science. In 1979, the U.S. Department of Defense named a new computer language “Ada” in her honor. The blockchain Cardano, named its cryptocurrency “Ada” in recognition of her achievements. Every October 12 is celebrated as Ada Lovelace Day, since 2009, by women in STEM the world over.

ALAN TURING (1912-1954): THE GAY FATHER OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Some of you may know of Alan Turing because of his portrayal by Benedict Cumberbatch in the movie “Imitation Game”. A brilliant mathematician, Turing had so many groundbreaking achievements that this very short article cannot cover. One of them is the Turing Machine based on algorithms, with an infinite memory capable of processing any set of instructions, through a mechanical process, which is basically a forerunner of the modern computer. Another is the COLOSSUS, a vacuum based electronic computer, which was considered by many as the world’s earliest working programmable electronic digital computer.

His paper “Computer Machinery and Intelligence,” published in 1950, in response partly to Ada Lovelace’s theory that you can only tell the computer what to do, dealt with the concept of artificial intelligence and what is now known as the Turing Test. This test stipulates that for a computer to be intelligent, it must deceive a human observer into believing it is human.

Alan Turing’s picture at sitn.hms.harvard.edu

As cryptanalyst for the British government during WWII, he improved on the Rejewski bombe, an electromechanical machine that enabled him and his team to decrypt German encrypted messages re: the war, and German U-boat raids. His efforts and those of his team reduced WWII by 2 to 4 years, and helped win the war against Hitler. According to Prof. Jack Copeland, Turing’s efforts in cracking the German codes, saved 14 to 21 million lives. After WWII, his work with the UK Government was sealed and classified but he continued to work as mathematician for this government.

He was a homosexual who did not hide his sexual orientation, as a sign of his personal authenticity and courage. In 1952, his home was the subject of a robbery. He told the police about the identity of the felon, and when he was asked how he came to know this, he unhesitatingly replied that his male lover knew the criminal. The police arrested him for his same sex relationship, and he was eventually convicted for “gross indecency”. This resulted in the revocation of his state clearance, which meant he was officially restricted from working with the UK government, dealing with state secrets, and doing his mathematical and scientific projects and experiments.

Alan Turing “Victim of Prejudice”, headstone on his statue located at Turing Memorial Sackville Gardens, Manchester, U.K.

Instead of prison, he chose state therapy of injections of oestrogen which allegedly was intended to neutralize his libido, but instead made him numb and depressed.

He was found by his cleaner on June 8, 1954, dead from cyanide poisoning, from a half-eaten apple beside his bed. The official coroner’s pronouncement was suicide, but there are those who to this day, attribute his death to some sort of conspiracy. Anyway one looked at his case, it was definitely the UK government’s deep seated prejudice and discrimination against gays that caused his death. Never mind his invaluable and utter priceless service for the Crown and for the World.

On December 24, 2013, he was granted pardon under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy by Queen Elizabeth II. It was a pardon fifty nine years too late, and totally unnecessary because he committed no crime in loving a man.

(Note: Much of the information in this short article on Alan Turing came from the majestic and unforgettable biography of his life, Alan Turing: The Enigma, written by a fellow brilliant gay mathematician, Andrew Hodges).

I trust that by writing these short articles on quite obscure, but legendary giants in the STEM fields, women, and LGBTQIA+ peoples who read them can hold their heads high, and know they absolutely have the right to be here, and they did not make any mistakes in treading the paths walked by these worthy exemplars of achievements and humanity.