A female scientist from the Queen's University Ionic Liquid Laboratories (QUILL) Research Centre has won a prestigious fellowship for her work on ionic liquids enabling biomedical applications.
Dr Geetha Srinivasan is one of four outstanding female scientists to be awarded the 2012 L'Oréal-UNESCO UK and Ireland For Women In Science Fellowships (FWIS) The fellowships,worth £15,000 each, can be spent on whatever they may need to continue their research, from buying scientific equipment to paying for childcare or travel.
The winners were selected by a jury of eminent scientists, chaired by Professor Dame Athene Donald (DBE, FRS), Professor of Physics and Gender Equality Champion at the University of Cambridge and FWIS Laureate.
The other winners were Dr Silvia Giordani, from Trinity College Dublin, for her work on a new avenue towards "smart" medicines; Dr Katrina Lythgoe, from Imperial College London, for her work in multiscale evolutionary dynamics of important human diseases; and Dr Claire Spottiswoode, from the University of Cambridge, for her work on the genetics of cuckoo egg mimicry: solving a century-old evolutionary puzzle.
Chair of the jury Professor Donald said: "These awards are always a joy to judge. We had an outstanding shortlist of eight bright young women who care deeply about their areas of study. This made selecting the winners an incredibly tough task, but it also showed the extraordinary range of scientific research being carried out by female scientists in the UK and Ireland.
"I am delighted that the scientific community in UK and Ireland is waking up to the fact that we have to provide men and women with a level playing field in scientific study, allowing us judges the privilege of making our selection from such a fantastic shortlist."
The fellowships, now in their fourteenth year internationally and sixth year in the UK, promote the importance of ensuring greater participation of women in science by offering awards to outstanding female postdoctoral researchers. The UK fellowships have been designed to provide flexible financial help for the winners to undertake research in their chosen fields.
The awards are run in partnership with the UK National Commission for UNESCO, the Irish National Commission for UNESCO and the Royal Society.
Media inquiries to Claire O'Callaghan, Queen's University Communications Office, Tel: 028 9097 5391 or email c.ocallaghan@qub.ac.uk