In its 18th edition in Chile, the award was granted in the doctoral category to Fiorella Roco Parra, industrial civil engineer and PhD candidate in Engineering at the Catholic University of Maule, and in the postdoctoral category to Lorena Hern\u00e1ndez Garc\u00eda, astronomer at the Institute of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Valpara\u00edso (IFA-UV), Millennium Nucleus TITANS and Millennium Institute of Astrophysics (MAS), academic at the University of Valpara\u00edso, and PhD in Astronomy from the University of Granada, Spain.<\/p>\n
Over its history, FWiS has become one of the world\u2019s most prestigious awards for promoting scientific development, highlighting the role of women and inspiring future generations to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). As of 2025, it has recognised more than 4,000 women worldwide, including seven Nobel laureates.<\/p>\n
The 2025 call was again supported by the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO) as strategic partners for evaluation and dissemination. This year, four new partners joined: the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation; the Chilean Academy of Sciences; Fundaci\u00f3n Encuentros del Futuro; and JCDecaux.<\/p>\n
Esther Kuisch Laroche, Director of UNESCO\u2019s Regional Office in Santiago, emphasised that \u201cthe research of Fiorella Roco Parra and Lorena Hern\u00e1ndez Garc\u00eda not only expands the frontiers of knowledge in key fields such as engineering and astronomy, but also inspires new generations of girls and women to follow the path of science. UNESCO reaffirms its commitment to initiatives like this award, which help reduce gender gaps and strengthen scientific development through an inclusive and transformative perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
Magdalena Zapata, General Director of L\u2019Or\u00e9al Groupe in Chile, added: \u201cEvery year, this award moves and inspires us. The researchers we are recognising today embody the talent, vocation and transformative power that exist in Chile. We are proud to be part of this initiative, which not only celebrates their achievements but also opens pathways for many other women shaping the future of science. At L\u2019Or\u00e9al Groupe, we firmly believe that the world needs science \u2014 and that science needs women. Programmes like For Women in Science are a concrete way to move towards a more inclusive, diverse and forward-looking environment, capable of responding to the challenges of the 21st century through knowledge and research.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alejandra Pizarro, National Director of ANID, highlighted the agency\u2019s commitment to promoting women\u2019s participation in STEM fields: \u201cOur experience as an institution that funds knowledge development in Chile has shown that more diverse science is better science \u2014 and we achieve this only through the active participation of women researchers at every stage of the process. Initiatives like For Women in Science, which showcase young women excelling in their fields, are a source of inspiration. At ANID, we will continue to support actions that promote gender equity and greater participation of women in science, because that is the path that drives us forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
About the 2025 For Women in Science Chile awardees<\/p>\n
Fiorella Roco Parra \u2013 Doctoral category winner (FWiS 2025)
Her research focuses on High Entropy Alloys (HEAs), aimed at developing stronger and more efficient materials applicable to key industries in Chile such as mining, energy and health. Using computational simulations to predict material behaviour under extreme conditions \u2014and through collaborations with universities in Chile, Argentina and France\u2014 she has advanced her project using state-of-the-art technologies. Her studies have already been published in several high-impact international scientific journals.<\/p>\n
Lorena Hern\u00e1ndez Garc\u00eda \u2013 Postdoctoral category winner (FWiS 2025)
Her work specialises in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and the management of large data sets. Her project seeks to build the first open catalogue on AGN variability \u2014areas of the universe hosting supermassive black holes with active behaviour\u2014 using multi-frequency data. This tool will not only help identify new cosmic objects but also contribute to developing open science tools applicable in other fields such as health or engineering.<\/p>\n
In addition to her scientific work, Lorena is recognised for her efforts to make astronomy more accessible to the public. Together with her team, she detected in real time an unusual X-ray signal from the centre of a distant galaxy, possibly linked to the \u201cawakening\u201d of a black hole or a rare transient event. Her discovery was highlighted by international organisations such as NASA and ESA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In its 18th edition in Chile, the award was granted in the doctoral category to Fiorella Roco Parra,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12905],"tags":[12490,1034,12482,12480,1580,13544,12483,6792,12484,12489,15111,16495],"class_list":["post-22273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-loreal","tag-climate-change-biodiversity","tag-education","tag-foster-science--innovation-for-humanity","tag-gender-equality","tag-loreal","tag-loreal-unesco-for-women-in-science-awards","tag-mobilize-education-to-transform-lives","tag-natural-sciences","tag-promote-inclusion--mutual-understanding","tag-respond-to-current-global-challenges-ai","tag-women-scientists","tag-women-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}