Each year, the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards honour five exceptional women, representing each of the following regions: Africa and the Arab States; Asia and the Pacific; Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; North America.
For this 27th edition, the Laureates were selected from a pool of 466 nominees, through a rigorous evaluation process conducted by an independent jury chaired by Professor Artur Avila, Professor at the Institute of Mathematics University of Zurich (Switzerland), Extraordinary Researcher at Instituto de Mathematica Pura e Aplicada (Brazil) and Fields Medal winner in 2014.
Africa and the Arab States
- Professor Priscilla Baker, Analytical chemistry - Professor of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa
Asia and the Pacific
- Professor Xiaoyun Wang, Cryptography and applied mathematics - Chen-Ning Yang Professorship, Institute for Advanced Study, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Europe
- Professor Claudia Felser, Condensed matter physics - Director and Scientific Member, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Germany
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Professor Maria Teresa Dova, Particle and fields physics - Professor at Physics Department, Faculty of Exact Sciences, National University of La Plata, and Senior Researcher at National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), La Plata, Argentina
North America
- Professor Barbara Finlayson-Pitts, Environmental science - Distinguished Professor Emerita, Chemistry Department and Founder/Co-Director, Atmospheric Integrated Research Institute, University of California, Irvine, United States of America
More information on the 2025 Laureates
27 years of empowering women in science
Today, women still only account for just over one in three researchers globally (31.1%) according to UNESCO data.
That is why the Fondation L’Oréal and UNESCO have been working together for 27 years through the For Women in Science Programme to empower and promote women in science. By supporting them to overcome barriers and advance their careers, this long-lasting partnership enables women scientists to contribute to pushing the frontiers of knowledge and solving the major challenges of our time – for the benefit of all.
Over the course of the 27 years of the For Women in Science Programme, several laureates have come from the United Kingdom:
- 2001 - Dame Anne McLaren
- 2009 – Dame Athene Margaret Donald
- 2012 – Dame Frances Mary Ashcroft
- 2013 – Dame Pratibha Laxman Gai-Boyes
- 2015 – Dame Carol Robinson
- 2017 – Michelle Simmons
- 2017 – Nicola Spaldin
- 2018 – Dame Caroline Dean
- 2018 – Janet Rossant
- 2020 – Edith Heard
- 2023 – Dame Frances Kirwan
(With thanks to Maxim Polya-Vitry, UK Deputy Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, for this information).
