The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the cosmetics company L’Oreal for their outstanding achievements in an arena long dominated by men have bestowed five women scientists with major awards.
The recipients received $100,000 each.
Globally, women make up only 27% of all researchers. Figures for the next generation are also not promising for women scientists. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has observed a steep drop in the number of girls studying science and technology, particularly in the United States, Canada and France.
This year’s recipients, who have received the honor, are:
• Ameenah Gurib-Fakim of Mauritius for her exploration and analysis of plants from her country in paving the way for their use as safe and effective alternatives to existing commercial medicines.
• Ligia Gargallo of Chile for her work helping drug designers envisage how new compounds will interact with the body’s enzymes.
• Mildred Dresselhaus of the United States for her research on solid state materials, including carbon nanotubes.
• Margaret Brimble of New Zealand for her contribution to synthesizing complex natural products, especially shellfish toxins.
• Tatiana Birshtein of Russia for her efforts to understanding the shapes, sizes and motions of large molecules.
