Women need platforms to celebrate excellence in research and technology

Last week, three exceptional researchers were recognized with prices to advance their work Sony Women in Technology Prize with Nature. Everyone has won US $ 250,000 to support and accelerate their technology -oriented research.

Kiana Aran, bio-engineier at the University of California in San Diego, received a prize in mid-carrier for her work, which is at the intersection of biology, artificial intelligence (IA), of the electronic and materials science, investigating the use of the tips of the fingertips to detect genetic and viral diseases¹. She also created a non -profit organization that supervises women in engineering.

Ask NatureInspiring women in science

Computer scientist Amanda Randles at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, also received a prize in mid-career to study how a “digital twin” technology that she has developed to guide interventions for people with heart diseases could be used for early cancer interventions².

Yatin Wan at King Abdullah of Science and Technology University in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, received the prize at the start of a career. She works in silicon photonics on research which focuses on improving the energy efficiency in data communication and information processing³. In addition, Jiawen Li, a biomedical engineer based at the University of Adélaïde, Australia, has received a congratulations from special judges for his work creating a thin endoscope of hair that can be used in blood vessels, combining work on 3D printing on a nanometer scale with fiber optic technology⁴.

In the world of research, specific gender rewards can be criticized, with an incorrect perception that they are somehow less than rewards for which sex is not an application criterion. To be clear, these winners would be judged to be excellent in any swimming pool. And it is well known that research subsidies and science and technology awards do not systematically manage to adequately recognize women and other under-represented groups.

A smaller share of women is postulating for subsidies and rewards in relation to men, and, when they win, they receive relatively lower reward values⁵. Some, although modest, efforts to change things in progress and seem to help⁶But the change is slow, as We have reported on several previous occasions.

These are among the reasons why specific gender rewards exist, why more are necessary – and why Nature is proud to be associated with prices of this type. Women need platforms through which their voice can be heard and for their exceptional contribution to research to recognize and celebrate, to allow them to access appropriate support and build the networks they need to move forward their projects.

Broader advantages

Such prices also offer other advantages. By doing more to recognize half of the population, companies, universities and other research -oriented organizations simultaneously stimulate creativity, which, in turn, helps achieve their wider goals.

Take the experience of the largest public funder in the United Kingdom of Research and Development focused on innovation, Innovate UK. Its annual Diagram of women in innovation Rewards innovators, including scientists and engineers, with £ 75,000 (US $ 94,600), as well as access to commercial support, mentoring and peer networking. Since its launch, there has been a marked increase in the successful applications of the teams led by women to innovate the subsidies of the United Kingdom, which are worth a total of more than 1 billion pounds sterling per year. When the price was established in 2016, the teams led by women won one in seven of these subsidies. Now the number is one in three.

“Male predominance campuses belong to the past”: the University of Tokyo reveals the gap between the sexes

The importance of setting digital objectives is highlighted in a vision of the world of Kaori Hayashi, executive vice-president of the University of Tokyo, which describes efforts to increase the representation of women at university (Nature 638295; 2025). It highlights the need for targets to be realistic. Hayashi also addresses the perception that the efforts that target women promote impostor syndrome by making women unworthy of their positions. “It is only” positive discrimination “insofar as it against negative discrimination to which women are otherwise submitted,” she writes.

We can imagine one day when rewards for women will no longer be necessary; This day will come when women are represented fairly among the winners. For the moment, we must continue to offer exceptional researchers to obtain the credit they deserve. On this note, women inspiring nature in science are now open (see Go.nature.com/4b4dcyz). These awards celebrate and support the achievements of women in science, those who work to encourage girls and young women to engage with science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine, and those who work To help women help them stay in these careers around the world. Thanks to these awards, we hope to play a small role in leveling the rules of the game for women everywhere.