Estée Lauder shines a spotlight on women in science

Estée Lauder is highlighting female scientists with the launch of two new global awards.

Cosmetics giant The Estée Lauder Companies has joined forces with media platform Nature Research to shine a spotlight on the exceptional achievements of women in science, as well as celebrating those who have worked to champion women and girls' participation in the industry.

Dubbed the "Nature Research Award for Inspiring Science" and the "Nature Research Award for Innovating Science," the awards will respectively honor female scientists who have completed their PhD within the last 10 years and excelled in scientific discovery, and an individual or an organization that has supported increased access to, or interest in, STEM subjects for girls and women around the globe. Currently, women make up less than a third of the world's researchers.

"As a Company founded by a pioneering woman, supporting other women pioneers is at the core of who we are," said Lisa Napolione, Senior Vice President, Global R&D, The Estée Lauder Companies, in a statement. "We are so proud that more than half of our scientists and engineers in our global R&D teams are women. These scientists have revolutionized research in the beauty industry in a wide range of areas including cellular repair, circadian rhythm and epigenetics in skin. As we look to the future, ensuring a deep bench of research expertise among the next generation in emerging scientific areas is critical."

The winners of the awards will be announced in October, with both receiving up to $10,000 to spend on initiatives linked to the award, and up to $5,200 to support publication of their research, or events. Each recipient will receive free training from Nature Masterclasses, while Estée Lauder Companies has built a scientific mentoring program into the awards, which aims to connect winners to scientific experts with the skill set required to support and accelerate their research progress.

Nominations for the awards will close on June 11, 2018.