Before the New Year, the award ceremony of the L’Oréal-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science, the fourth season, took place.
More than 170 female researchers from 99 higher education institutions of Ukraine and 29 institutes of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine applied for the competition. The requirements for the applicants were high: thee have to conduct professional research in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) field, have a degree, publications in journals indexed in Scopus and/or Web of Science international scientometric databases, and actively promote science. The applications were evaluated by an independent Jury, which consisted of leading scientists of Ukraine who have an impeccable scientific reputation.
During the opening ceremony, the co-Chairman of the Jury, Director of the O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Serhiy Komisarenko reminded that over the four years of holding the competition in Ukraine more than 700 applications were received and 12 laureates were awarded. He read greetings from the President of the National Academy of Sciences Anatoliy Zagorodny. “Only three generations ago, about a hundred years ago, the profession of a scientist was considered exclusively male, and today in the National Academy of Sciences 42 percent of staff are women!” – the greeting says. “It is great that many women have chosen science as a matter of life and achieved significant success. I hope that the popularity of scientific careers among women will grow.”
However, many female researchers still face prejudices about the role of women in science. Kateryna Zakharash, L’Oréal-Ukraine’s Director of humanitarian communications, noted that there are still stereotypes that only the humanities are for women. That is why in 1998 the L’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO joined forces to support and honor talented women scientists and encourage young women to choose scientific professions in any field of science. Over the years, 3,500 talented female researchers from around the world received recognition and support, five of them later received the Nobel Prize.
In the top three winners of 2021 in Ukraine: Doctor of Technical Sciences, Leading Researcher of the Institute of Scintillation Materials of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Iryna Bespalova; PhD in Physics and Mathematics, Senior Researcher of the V.Ye. Lashkariov Institute of Semiconductor Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Valentyna Nosenko; PhD in Chemistry, Senior Researcher of the O.O. Chuyko Institute of Surface Chemistry of the NAS of Ukraine Iryna Sulym.
In their video presentations, the researchers told why they chose the specific scientific field, how they would spend the prize (150 thousand hryvnias), and wished courage and self-confidence to all girls, who are just beginning their scientific path.
They are also convinced that there should be no division by sex in science, and young women who have given birth should be supported and helped to continue their scientific work. “I am convinced that the profession is not about men or women, it is a state of mind and soul,” said Iryna Bespalova.
Svitlana GALATA
Svit newspaper, № 1-2, January 2022