L'Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards recognises cutting edge scientific discoveries by women

Source: L’Oréal Corporate Foundation. The winners with Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO and M. Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman and CEO of L'Oreal and Chairman of the L'Oreal Corporate Foundation.

The 19th edition of the L'Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards Ceremony has honoured five women scientists and their accomplishments in the physical sciences. Proposed by a community of more than 2,000 leading scientists, the five laureates were then selected by an independent international jury of 12 prominent scientists presided this year by Professor Christian Amatore, member of the French Académie des Sciences.

Each woman received an award of €100,000 to commend their scientific contributions in the fields of quantum physics, physical sciences and astrophysics.
 
Professor Niveen Khashab, Associate Professor of Chemical Sciences and Engineering from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in KSA represented the Africa & Arab States region for designing nanoparticles that could improve early detection of disease. Her work in innovative smart hybrid materials aimed at drug delivery and for developing new techniques to monitor intracellular antioxidant activity could lead to more targeted and personalised medical treatment.

The Asia Pacific region was represented by Professor Michelle Simmons from Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology - University of New South Wales in Australia. Professor Simmons pioneered key developments that are required to create quantum computers. Her work on atomic-scale transistors could give birth to tomorrow's computers.

Professor Nicola A. Spaldin (Switzerland) won for reinventing magnetic materials for next-generation electronic devices. Her research on switchable magnetic and multiferroic materials could lead to a new generation of electronic equipment components.

Professor Maria Teresa Ruiz (Chile), for discovering a new type of celestial body, halfway between a star and a planet, hidden in the darkness of the universe.

Representing North America, Professor Zhenan Bao (US) was chosen for inventing skin-inspired electronic materials. Her research on novel functional stretchable polymers for consumer electronics, energy storage and biomedical applications could help patients with prostheses for example. improve

Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman and CEO of L'Oreal and Chairman of the L'Oreal Corporate Foundation, highlighted the power of these women scientists, as well as all of the women scientists who have been celebrated this year, in his opening speech: "A shared, controlled science, at the service of the world's population, is able to meet the major challenges of the twenty-first century, and our researchers are the proof. They are the ones that give science all its greatness."

Since 1998, the L’Oréal Corporate Foundation and UNESCO have been committed to increase the number of women working in scientific research. More than a century after Marie Curie’s birth, only 28%* of researchers are women and only 3% of Scientific Nobel Prizes are awarded to them. That is why, for the past 19 years, the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programme has worked to honour and accompany women researchers at key moments in their careers. Since the programme began, it has supported more than 2,700 young women from 115 countries and celebrated 97 Laureates.

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*UNESCO Science Report Toward 2030, 2015