L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards
The L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards, created in 1998, aim to improve the position of women in science by recognizing outstanding women researchers who have contributed to scientific progress. The awards are a result of a partnership between the Foundation of the French company L'Oréal and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and carry a grant of $100,000 USD for each laureate. This award is also known as the L'Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Awards.
Each year an international jury awards five laureates, selecting one from each of the following regions:
- Africa and the Arab States.
- Asia and the Pacific
- Europe
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- North America
The same partnership awards the UNESCO-L'Oréal International Fellowships, providing up to $40,000 USD in funding over two years to fifteen young women scientists engaged in exemplary and promising research projects. The Fellowship awards began in 2000 with a one-year award of US$20,000 and offered ten awards until 2003. In 2003, the number of awards increased to 15 and then in 2006, the grant period extended to two years and the amount of the award increased to US$40,000. In 2015, the name Rising Talent Grants was implemented.
As of 2023, 7 L'Oréal-UNESCO laureates have won also a Nobel Prize, these are: Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard in Physiology or Medicine, Elizabeth Blackburn in Physiology or Medicine, Ada Yonath in Chemistry, Emmanuelle Charpentier in Chemistry, Jennifer Doudna in Chemistry, Katalin Karikó in Physiology or Medicine and Anne L'Huillier in Physics.
Recipients
Legend:Source:
Special tributes
On the 25th anniversary of the award, a special tribute was given to three researchers in exile, who were or had been forced to interrupt their scientific career in their home country and have pursued their career abroad. A financial reward and a medal of honor was awarded to Mursal Dawodi from Afghanistan, Ann Al Sawoor from Iraq, and Marycelin Baba from Nigeria.International Rising Talents
From 2000 to 2014, fellowships were awarded yearly to doctoral and post-doctoral women to allow them to pursue their research in host laboratories outside their home countries.Established in 2015, the International Rising Talent Grants are awarded annually to 15 PhD students and post-doctoral Fellows. They replace the former International Fellowships.