10/05/2006

Viewing women's participation in scientific research as a decisive factor for economic, social and political progress, L'OREAL Hellas and the Greek National Committee for UNESCO announced the programme of annual National Awards "For Women in Science". The programme is sponsored by the Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs.

The goal of this cooperation is to reward young Greek women scientists who have realised exemplary research in the field of Life Sciences and Material Sciences and have produced a work of significant scientific value.

Notably, L'OREAL Hellas, supporting and expanding the programme L'OREAL - UNESCO "For Women In Science", which has been honouring the contribution of women scientists worldwide with awards and scholarships since 1998, is inaugurating in Greece two yearly national Awards of post-doctoral research, worth 10,000 euro each.

The National Awards will be granted to women up to 35 years of age, with a doctorate degree, who are involved with scientific research in the field of Life Sciences and Material Sciences, in Universities or Research Centres in Greece.

Candidacy submissions began on 2 May 2006. Applications are to be submitted to the Greek National Committee Secretariat for UNESCO (3, Academias Street, Tel: +30 210 3682396-7) until 1 September 2006.

The candidates will be assessed by a Judges' Committee of prestigious scientific repute, chaired by Mr. Nikolaos Hatzihristidis, professor at the Chemistry Department of the University of Athens and member of the International L'ORΕAL-UNESCO Awards Committee.

The winners of the National Awards will be announced on 1 November 2006, whereas the award-giving ceremony will take place on 30 November 2006.

L'OREAL-UNESCO International Awards and Scholarships for Women Researchers
Since 1998, L'ORΕAL and UNESCO have been committed to implementing common programmes through mutual and joint cooperation, that will reinforce women's positions on an international scale in general and in their scientific work specifically. To date, 42 eminent women researchers have been honoured with the L'ORΕAL-UNESCO Award, while 90 scholarships have been granted to allow young women researchers to get involved with science.

The L'ORΕAL-UNESCO International Awards are well-known annual distinctions awarded to five eminent women researchers from around the world (alternating, one year in the field of Life Sciences and the next in the field of Material Sciences) representing the following continents: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America. The five L'ORΕAL-UNESCO Awards have a value of 100,000 dollars each. It is worth mentioning that many of the said eminent scientists are Nobel Prize nominees.

In 2006, the L'ORΕAL-UNESCO awards were granted to the following women scientists:
a. Professor Habiba Bouhamed Chaabouni (Tunisia, University of Tunis), "For her contribution to the analysis and prevention of hereditary disorders"
b. Professor Jennifer Graves (Australia, Australian National University, Canberra.), "For her study on the evolution of mammalian genomes"
c. Professor Christine Van Broeckhoven (Belgium, University of Antwerp), "For her genetic analyses of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disorders"
d. Professor Esther Orozco (Mexico, Centre for Advanced Research CINVESTAV, National Polytechnic Institute), "For her discovery of the mechanism and control of infections by amoebae in the tropics"
e. Professor Pamela Bjorkman (USA, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, California Institute of Technology CalTech), "For her discovery of how the immune system recognizes targets"

Similarly, since 2000, International Scholarships are awarded every year to 15 young women researchers (three from each continent) who perform doctoral or post-doctoral research in the field of Life Science. In 2006 the value of the scholarships doubled to 40,000 dollars, covering a 2-year period.

Source: L'ORΕAL Hellas, Greek National Committee for UNESCO