3 scientists honoured by L’Oréal-UNESCO

L’Oréal Malaysia awards three Malaysian female scientists in the 11th edition of the L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science award programme.

In spite of the progress the world has seen in recent years in science and the involvement of women, gender disparity and imbalance in the fields of science remains obvious. According to the UNESCO's 2015 statistics, 28% of the world researchers are women despite of the increase in the number of women enrolling in institutions of higher learning.

There are indeed many barriers that hinder the progress and involvement of women in the sciences. Some of these obstacles come in the form of a cultural resistance or a lack of reinforcement in women's education to take on the hard sciences. Additionally, employment opportunities and balancing family or personal life. Of course, obstacles aren't limited to the ones mentioned, there are many other reasons and restrictions. However, there is no excuse. All these issues must be resolved and obstacles that my block a talented woman from pursuing an education in the sciences should be removed. Not only in education, but employment opportunities as well as research and financial aids.

L’Oréal pinned a long term commitment to accelerate the advancement of women in science. This commitment aims to inspire future generation and hopes to bridge the present gap. Since the inception of the programme in 2006 here in Malaysia, more than RM700,000 grants have been awarded to 35 outstanding women scientists and will continue to do so to change the face of science in the country. “By providing support at a pivotal moment in their careers, we hope to empower them to further their work, continue on a path to become future leaders in their fields and perhaps one day join the ranks  of Laureates and win a Nobel Prize, and show the spirit of “Malaysia Boleh”, says Mr. Malek Bekdache, Managing Director of L’Oréal Malaysia.

Every year the program provides fellowships to promising women researchers at crucial junctures in their careers, making it one of Malaysia's most sought after programmes among women in the scientific community. The fellowship is opened to all Malaysian women researchers/scientists under the age of 40, who are PhD holders or pursuing a research in any scientific discipline. Recipients will receive RM30,000 as a grant to aid their research. This year, the programme received an overwhelming number of applicants (139 applicants) from 18 different scientific fields.

Each year, an esteemed panel of jury members nominated by the Ministry of Education, Malaysia National Commission for UNESCO and Academy of Science Malaysia come together to evaluate the most promising research projects submitted by outstanding female scientists in Malaysia.

This year's jury was led by one of Malaysia's most prominent scientists in the field of Astrophysics, Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr. Mazlan Othman, Program Director, Academy of Science Malaysia. She is the first Malaysian astrophysicist and has held a number of important positions in Malaysia and the United Nations.

Project significance in terms of its merit and value contribution, originality and purpose, contribution to science, methodology, academic achievements and overall project quality are the criterion that would determine which scientist to be awarded.

The winners of this year are:

• Fatehah Mohd Omar, University Sains Malaysia. For her research on wastewater treatment for palm oil industries.
• Nethia Mohana Kumaran. For her research on a customized treatment for nasopharyngeal cancer.
• Reena Rajasuriar. For her research on unlocking the code of immunological aging process.

The event, which was held in Kuala Lumpur last week, had Yang Berhormat, Datuk Dr. Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah, Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation as the guest of honour.

In his speech, he said “for Malaysia to move forward to compete with the rest of the world, we need more scientists, mathematicians, engineers and technologists to manage our natural resources and to develop new technologies for future growth and development. Therefore, it is imperative to keep our youths and students in schools interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics or STEM and to do this we have set the enrolment policy of 60:40, which ensured that 60 and 40 percent of students enrolled in science and arts respectively. Although to date, Malaysia is yet to achieve the policy provided an important threshold and continues to be used as a benchmark for formulation and development of related policies and programmes in the field of S&T. The Government of Malaysia has set a national goal of producing one million specialists in STEM fields by the year 2020. This goal illustrates the government’s commitment to align the STEM initiatives to the objectives of the New Economic Model, Economic Transformation Programme and the Government Transformation Plan launched in 2010.”

A panel discussion took place to discuss the government initiative to produce more STEM students and share ideas on how to pave the path for girls in science. Members of the panel were:

• Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr. Mazlan Othman, Program Director, Academy of Science Malaysia
• Professor Dato Dr. Asma Ismail, Vice Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia
• Professor Madya Dr. Ramzah Dambul, Deputy Secretary General, MOSTI (Science division)
• Normi Mohd Yahaya, 2015 L’Oréal-UNESCO Award fellow & Senior Lecturer at Universiti Putra Malaysia, Department of Cell & Microbiology

Early education is the key for to attract more children to take interest in the sciences, according to Dr Mazlan. Additionally, the panel seemed to agree on the role of the government and its institutions to foster equality, gender balance and diversity through its policies and actions.