Lynda Hardman receives prestigious award for contributions to diversity in computer science

Lynda Hardman, Professor of Multimedia Discourse Interaction at Utrecht University, has received the IPN Service Award in recognition of her longstanding commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within academia, particularly in computer science.

According to the ICT Research Platform Netherlands (IPN), which has awarded the prize since 2025, Hardman deserves the distinction for her tireless efforts as a researcher and educator to increase the participation of women in computer science. Hardman emphasizes that the underrepresentation of women leads to the loss of important perspectives in technology. She also argues that diversity is essential to the quality and impact of scientific research.

“It is encouraging to see that the culture within Dutch computer sciences has really changed in the last decade”, Hardman says. “Diversity is now a topic that concerns departmental management teams - not just activist individuals like myself.”

Academische loopbaan

Hardman was co-author of the brochure Why would I want to do a PhD in Computer Science?, which encourages female Master’s students to consider an academic career in computer science. In addition, she has worked to incorporate gender representation requirements into key policy documents and to establish working groups focused on EDI within computer science in academia.

Hardman has been a professor at Utrecht University since 2015. In this role, she focuses on achieving structural change, within Utrecht University and at national and European levels. She served as President of Informatics Europe in 2016 and 2017, where she worked to enhance the visibility and influence of Dutch computer science departments at the European level.