L’Oréal-UNESCO Women Scientists

A pioneering programme for the promotion of women in science

UNESCO and the Fondation L’Oréal offer awards for women science researchers across the continents of the world. Only 33% of researchers are women.
The scientific fields considered for the awards alternate every other year between LifeSciences (even years) and Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science (odd years).
Past award holders have been honoured with Nobel prizes: Christine Nusslein-Volhard and Elizabeth Blackburn in Medicine, Ada Yonath, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna in Chemistry.

Since 2000, the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programme has highlighted the achievements of younger women who are in the early stages of their scientific careers. This is called the International Rising talents programme.