L'Oréal USA will award 5 annual fellowships to young women who are graduate students or post doctoral researchers in the natural sciences, engineering, computer science and mathematics. Fellowship grants of $20,000 will be awarded to each recipient. A jury comprised primarily of for Women in Science North American Laureate winners will select the yearly recipients - the first of which are scheduled to be announced in March of 2004.
The program is in keeping with the mission of the annual for Women in Science Awards held each year in Paris in partnership with UNESCO, where fifteen young scientists are selected to receive fellowship grants, in addition to the selection of five Laureates, representing five different regions of the globe, who are honored for their leadership role in the scientific community.
The application for fellowship candidacy has been posted on the company's website, housed under a special L'ORÉAL-UNESCO for Women in Science U.S. news and information page that was recently launched. Applicants may go to www.lorealusa.com/forwomeninscience. Information about the application process will also be posted on partner sites including that of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS).
The creation of the U.S. Fellowship program is especially relevant, as a recent study conducted by the National Center for Educational Statistics, shows significant gaps in the educational achievement between young men and women in the areas of mathematics and science, due in part to a lack of encouragement, mentors and available resources.
L'Oréal's historic connection to the sciences– can be traced back to its founder, a scientist/chemist, responsible for the development of the first permanent, hair dye with safe and consistent results. Science has been the basis of the company's world wide leadership in the cosmetics industry and the company devotes 3% of annual sales to research and development. L'Oréal's appreciation for the contributions made by women to science, is best demonstrated by the significant percentage of women, 55% to be exact, who comprise the more than 2700 researchers working in the company's laboratory facilities, around the world.
L'Oréal's commitment to science, women and education has been further demonstrated through the success of the for Women in Science Awards program, which to date has honored 25 leading international women involved in the Life and Materials sciences. Pioneers in breakthroughs in the science of molecular biology (Yale Sterling Professor Dr. Joan Steitz), immunology (Dr. Indira Nath of India), molecular genetics (Dr. Adeyinka Gladys Falusi of Nigeria) and thermodynamics and the criticality of fluid mixtures (Dr. Johanna Levelt Sengers of the National Institute of Standards and Technology).
In addition, the program has awarded 55 fellowships to young women scientists, coming from all regions of the world including Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, the Ivory Coast and Palestine.
"We are very proud, to be able to announce that L'Oréal USA will expand its commitment to promoting the role of women in the scientific community, through the establishment of these fellowship awards", said Jean-Paul Agon, President and CEO.
Note to Editors:
- L'Oréal is the world's number one cosmetics company, present in 140 countries with a turnover in 2002 of €14.2 billion. The company recorded its 18th consecutive year of double-digit growth in 2002, increasing its profits by 13.1 %. First Quarter Results for 2003 shows the group achieved a 10.4% increase in profits.
- L'Oréal's brand portfolio includes: L'Oréal Paris, Maybelline, Garnier, Soft Sheen Carson, Matrix, Redken, L'Oréal Professionnel, Vichy, La Roche-Posay, Lancôme, Helena Rubinstein, Biotherm, Kiehl's, Shu Uemura and Armani, Cacharel and Ralph Lauren fragrances. L'Oréal is the only cosmetics group that is present in every distribution channel: mass market, hair salons, department stores, pharmacy and mail order.
- With 47 factories worldwide, 88 distribution centers and 14,500 employees in manufacturing sites and over 3.4 billion units produced, the industrial organization of L'Oréal is a major contributor to the group's growth. Ninety-four percent of products sold by L'Oréal are made in the group's factories by group employees.