Ingrid Daubechies is one of five outstanding women scientists from different parts of the world recognized for their excellence in the fields of material science, mathematics and computer science. They will each receive € 100,000 and will be highlighted alongside fifteen young female international scientific talents, at a ceremony scheduled for March 14 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
Opening of the Mathematics and Computer Science Awards
While mathematics is a prestigious discipline and a source of innovation in many fields, it is also one of the scientific areas where women are least represented at the highest level. Since the creation of the three most prestigious international mathematics awards (Fields, Wolf and Abel), 141 laureates have been rewarded; among them only one woman.
The L'Oréal Foundation and UNESCO have therefore chosen to strengthen their commitment to women scientists by opening the International Prize for Subject Sciences to two new areas of research: mathematics and computer science.
Two women mathematicians are among the five winners of the 2019 Women and Science Prize: French Claire Voisin, one of five women to receive the gold medal from the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and first mathematician to join the Collège de France, as well as Ingrid Daubechies, from Duke University, in the United States, first researcher president of the International Mathematical Union (UMI).
L'ORÉAL-UNESCO INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR WOMEN AND SCIENCE
Professor INGRID DAUBECHIES - Mathematics / Mathematical Physics
Professor of Mathematics and Electrical and Computational Engineering, Duke University, USA.
Rewarded for outstanding contribution to digital image and signal processing, providing common and versatile algorithms for data compression. His innovative work on wavelet theory has led to the development of image processing and filtering methods used in technologies ranging from medical imaging to wireless communication.
AFRICA AND ARAB STATES
Professor Najat Aoun SALIBA - Analytical and Atmospheric Chemistry
Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Center for Conservation of Nature at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
Rewarded for pioneering work in identifying carcinogens and other toxic substances found in the air of the Middle East, and in new nicotine dispensers and hookahs. Her pioneering work in analytical and atmospheric chemistry will address the most pressing environmental challenges and advance health care policy and practice.
ASIA PACIFICProfessor Maki KAWAI - Chemistry / Catalysis
Director General of the Institute of Molecular Sciences, President of the Society of Chemistry, Member of the Board of Science, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo, Japan.
Rewarded for her pioneering work in manipulating separate molecules at the atomic scale to transform matter and create innovative materials. Her outstanding work has helped to lay the foundation for nanotechnology that led to the discovery of new chemical and physical phenomena that could address critical environmental issues such as energy efficiency.
LATIN AMERICAProfessor Karen HALLBERG - Physics / Condensed Matter Physics
Professor at the Balseiro Institute and Director of Research at the Bariloche Atomic Center, CNEA / CONICET, Argentina.
Awarded for the development of advanced computing approaches to understanding the physics of quantum matter. Its innovative and creative applications are a fundamental contribution to the understanding of nanoscopic systems and new materials.
EUROPE
Professor Claire VOISIN - Mathematics / Algebraic Geometry
Professor at the College de France and former researcher at CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research), France.
Rewarded for her outstanding work in algebraic geometry. His pioneering discoveries allowed him to solve fundamental questions about the topology and Hodge structures of complex algebraic varieties.
Department of Mathematics
