L'Oréal-UNESCO fellowships for PAS researchers
Two doctoral students from the institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences – Natalia Ochocka-Lewicka from the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology and Magdalena Dąbrowska from the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry – received fellowships in the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women and Science competition.
The jury of the 21st L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women and Science program distinguished six outstanding female scientists, who carry out research in the fields broadly understood as life sciences. This year, the jury awarded three fellowships for post-doctoral students (in the amount of PLN 35, 000), two fellowships for doctoral students (PLN 30, 000) and one fellowship to graduate student (PLN 20, 000). Among the laureates were two doctoral students from the Polish Academy of Sciences: Natalia Ochocka-Lewicka from the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Warsaw and Magdalena Dąbrowska from the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry in Poznań.
PAS laureates
Magdalena Dąbrowska received funding for the project "The use of genetic tools in experimental therapy for polyglutamine diseases". She is a graduate of healthcare analytics at the Medical University of Bialystok. She was awarded by the PAS Committee of Biotchnology with the Wacław Szybalski Award for the best experimental work performed in the Polish laboratory in 2018 and the Poznań Branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences Award for the best original work in the field of biological and agricultural sciences. She is also a laureate of the Etiuda 8 grant awarded by the National Science Center, thanks to which she completed a six-month research internship at the Federal University of Technology in Zurich.
Magdalena Dąbrowska. Photo: L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women and Science
Natalia Ochocka-Lewicka will lead the project "Understanding the diversity of immune cells in gliomas using single cell sequencing". She is a graduate of biotechnology at the Lodz University of Technology. She also studied neurobiology at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and Charite Universitätsmedizin in Berlin. She is the recipient of Preludium grant funded by the National Science Center and the leader of this project. During her PhD studies, she focuses on the immunopathology of brain tumors – gliomas, in which immune cells support tumor growth rather than counteract it. The innovative method of sequencing a single scRNA-seq cell have enabled detailed characterization of various types of tumor-infiltrating cells.
Natalia Ochocka-Lewicka. Photo: L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women and Science
About the L'Oréal-UNESCO program
This year, 132 women scientists representing life and environmental sciences, engineering and technological sciences, formal and technical sciences took part in the competition. The fellowship winners were selected after a three-stage competition.
The gala was held on November 23, 2021 at the Staszic Palace in Warsaw.
– I look at young scientists with great hope, that they will not only change science, but also at least some of them will fight in solidarity for the position of women in science – in Poland and in the world. The path they have chosen is extraordinary and I know that they will have many scientific adventures and groundbreaking discoveries ahead of them – says Prof. Katarzyna Turnau, Dean of Division II – Biological and Agricultural Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Prof. Katarzyna Turnau, Dean of the PAS Division II – Biological and Agricultural Sciences. Photo: L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women and Science
Prof. Michał Kleiber, President of the Polish Academy of Sciences in 2007-2015. Photo: L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women and Science
L’Oréal Polska For Women in Science is organized since 2001. Its partners are the Polish Committee for UNESCO, the Ministry of Education and Science, and the Polish Academy of Sciences. The winners are selected by the jury chaired by Prof. Ewa Łojkowska.
L’Oréal Polska For Women and Science is part of the global initiative "For Women in Science", created through the partnership of L`Oréal and UNESCO. By 2021, 111 Polish women scientists were honored.
Source of information: L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women and Science
