Women in Science Fellowship
We are delighted to announce that Dr Maria Bruna, Junior Research Fellow in Mathematics at St John's has been awarded one of the 2016 L’Oréal-UNESCO UK & Ireland For Women in Science Fellowships (FWIS). The winning scientists, selected from nearly 400 applicants, were announced at a prestigious ceremony hosted at the Royal Society. Maria received recognition for her research developing models which can improve the efficiency of particle separation technologies, which are critical to a wide range of sectors from the food and pharmaceutical industries to clinical research. In stem cell research, for example, individual stem cells must be identified and separated from many thousands of neighbouring cells before they can be used in therapies.
The L'Oréal UK & Ireland Fellowships For Women in Science were
launched in January 2007 to help support and help increase the number of
women working in sciences. The Fellowships are awards offered by a
partnership between L'Oréal UK & Ireland, the UK National Commission
for UNESCO and the Irish National Commission for UNESCO, with the
support of the Royal Society. From 2015, Five Fellowships are awarded
annually to outstanding female postdoctoral researchers. The Fellowships
are tenable at any UK or Irish university/research institute to support
a 12-month period of postdoctoral research in any area of the life,
physical sciences, mathematics and engineering.
The Fellowships
have been designed to provide practical help for the winners to
undertake research in their chosen fields. For example, winners may
choose to spend their fellowship on buying scientific equipment, paying
for child care costs, travel costs or indeed whatever they may need to
continue their research.
Dr Steve Shiel, Scientific Director at
L’Oréal UK & Ireland, said: ‘At a time when there’s still a
significant gender imbalance in the UK science community, it’s vital
that organisations like ours find ways to support women in getting into
and staying in science. As a company founded on science, we are
committed to helping breakdown the barriers standing between students
and potential scientific careers because, simply, science needs women.’
Professor
Dame Carol Robinson, Head of the Judging Panel and a L'Oréal-UNESCO For
Women in Science International Laureate, said: ‘We were really
impressed by the research projects each our finalists is working on, and
it was tough to decide on our winning group – each is working hard to
solve a specific question. We are excited that they will benefit from
the very real, flexible support provided in the Fellowship, at a
critical stage in their careers.’
The 2016 fellowships have been awarded to:
- Dr Sophie Acton, University College London, Immunology/Cell Biology
- Dr Maria Bruna, University of Oxford, Mathematics
- Dr Sam Giles, University of Oxford, Palaeobiology
- Dr Tanya Hutter, University of Cambridge, Physical Chemistry
- Dr Louisa Messenger, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Public Health
To find out more please visit https://www.womeninscience.co.uk/