The L’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO has honoured five women scientists as the 15th L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Laureates.
The organisers said the research of the 2013 Laureates demonstrates exceptionally original approaches to fundamental research in the Physical Sciences, from contributing to better understanding of climate change to advancing research on neurodegenerative diseases and potentially uncovering new energy sources.
The laureates are:
- Professor Francisca Nneka Okeke, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria, for her significant contributions to the understanding of daily variations of the ion currents in the upper atmosphere which may further our understanding of climate change.
- Professor Pratibha GAI, University of York, UK for ingeniously modifying her electron microscope so that she was able to observe chemical reactions occurring at surface atoms of catalysts, which will help scientists in their development of new medicines or new energy sources.
- Professor Reiko Kuroda, Tokyo University of Science, Japan, for discovering the functional importance of the difference between left handed and right handed molecules, which has wide applications including research on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
- Professor Marcia Barbosa, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, for discovering one of the peculiarities of water that may lead to better understanding of how earthquakes occur and how proteins fold, which is important for the treatment of diseases.
- Professor Deborah Jin, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, for having been the first to cool down molecules so much that she can observe chemical reactions in slow motion, which may help further understanding of molecular processes, which are important for medicine or new energy sources.
Professor Ahmed Zewail, winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, chaired the awards jury, which also included Linus Pauling, Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Physics, California Institute of Technology.
‘These five outstanding women scientists have given the world a better understanding of how nature works,’ said UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova. ‘Their pioneering research and discoveries have changed the way we think in various areas of the physical sciences and opened new frontiers in science and technology. Such key developments have the potential to transform our society. Their work, their dedication, serves as an inspiration to us all.’
The five Laureates will be honoured at an Awards ceremony in Paris next March and will receive US$100,000 in recognition of their accomplishments.
Established in 1998, the L’Oréal-UNESCO partnership is a long-term commitment to recognising women in science and supporting scientific vocations. For Women in Science has grown into a global programme that includes International, Regional and National Fellowships and an international network of more than 1,300 women in 106 countries.
