L'Oréal Group and UNESCO announced on the 17th the five winners of the '27th L'Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Awards.'
This year marks the 27th anniversary of the 'L'Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Awards,' a prestigious honor in the field of women in science. Each year, five outstanding female scientists representing five continents are selected.
This year's winners have been recognized for their leading contributions in the fields of physics and mathematics/computer science. An award ceremony was held on the 12th (local time) at UNESCO headquarters in France, where each of the five winners was awarded €100,000 (Hanwha 157.6 million won).
In the Asia-Pacific region, Professor Xiaoyun Wang from Tsinghua University was selected for her significant contributions to encryption and cryptology, essential for secure data communication and storage. Professor Wang discovered fundamental flaws in hash functions used in common communication protocols. L'Oréal stated that the new hash function standard she proposed is currently used in bank cards, computer passwords, and e-commerce.
In the Africa-Arab region, Priscilla Baker from Western Cape University in South Africa was awarded for developing a high-sensitivity electrochemical microsensor to detect environmental pollutants, while Claudia Felser, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Chemistry in Germany, received the award for pioneering the field of topological quantum chemistry in Europe.
In the South America-Caribbean region, María Teresa Dova from the National University of La Plata in Argentina was recognized for her contributions to high-energy physics research, including the discovery and characterization of the Higgs particle and cosmic ray physics. In North America, Barbara Finlayson-Pitts, an emerita professor at the University of California, Irvine, was selected for her work in elucidating the mechanism of photochemical smog formation and advancing atmospheric chemistry.
According to UNESCO, the proportion of women among scientists worldwide is only 31.1%. Since 1901, there have been only 25 Nobel Prize winners, and they continue to face a glass ceiling. L'Oréal Foundation and UNESCO have been working for the past 27 years under the value that 'the world needs science, and science needs women' to promote the authority of women in the scientific field through the L'Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Awards. Since its inception in 1998, it has supported over 4,700 female scientists, seven of whom have won Nobel Prizes.
Pauline Avenel-Lam, Chief Executive Officer of the L'Oréal Foundation, remarked, "The importance of science is greater than ever in the face of unprecedented challenges such as climate change, health crises, and digital security, and the role of women scientists is essential to that center. Over the past 27 years, the L'Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Awards have supported these women talents, and the contributions of the 2025 winners are expected to be a key to future scientific advancements and problem-solving."
Lidia Brito, Deputy Director of UNESCO's Natural Sciences Division, stated, "Gender equality in science is a core mission of UNESCO, and providing women scientists with due recognition and opportunities is an essential strategy for a sustainable future and a key element in solving the complex challenges facing the world." She added, "I hope that the research of the 2025 winners and future generations of women scientists will receive broader recognition and that we will move toward a world where women's contributions in all scientific fields are fully acknowledged."
In Korea, L'Oréal Korea, along with the UNESCO Korean Committee and the Women in Life Science and Technology Forum, launched the 'Korea L'Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Awards' in 2002, selecting outstanding female scientists annually. This year's award ceremony for the Korea L'Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Awards will be held on July 16.