2023 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award awarded to Dame Frances Kirwan#
Dame Frances Kirwan, Savilian Professor of Geometry, University of Oxford
and a member of the Academia Europaea Mathematics section since 2008, was awarded the 2023 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award (Laureate for Europe – Mathematics) "for exceptional work in pure mathematics combining geometry and algebra in order to develop techniques to understand the classification of geometric objects".
"Dame Frances Kirwan explores classification questions in algebraic geometry, which lead to the study of moduli spaces. What is now called the ‘Kirwan map’ helps to describe the topology (i.e. the shape) of these moduli spaces. Her research has been used by theoretical physicists to understand the structure of possible mathematical models of our universe.
Potential applications of her more recent work could help scientists to illustrate the shape of large, complex data sets (a research area known as topological data analysis or TDA)".
Academia Europaea congratulates Prof. Kirwan to this outstanding distinction!#
About the award#
The L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards, created in 1998, aim to improve the position of women in science by recognizing outstanding women researchers who have contributed to scientific progress. The awards are a result of a partnership between the French cosmetics company L'Oréal and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and carry a grant of $100,000 USD for each laureate. This award is also known as the L'Oréal-Helena Rubinstein Women in Science Awards.
Each year an international jury awards five laureates, selecting one from each of the following regions:
- Africa and the Arab States
- Asia and the Pacific
- Europe
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- North America (since 2000)
Eligibility requirements alternate every other year based on scientific discipline with laureates in life sciences recognized in even years and laureates in physical sciences, mathematics and computer science recognized in odd years (since 2003). Academia Europaea recipients of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards.
