L'Oreal USA For Women in Science Program Announces 2015 Call for Applications

NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- L'Oreal USA today announced the start of the 2015 application period for the For Women in Science fellowship program. The program recognizes and rewards the contributions women make in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields and identifies exceptional women researchers committed to serving as role models for younger generations. Five U.S.-based women will receive a fellowship grant up to $60,000 each for their postdoctoral research through the program.

"L'Oreal is proud to support, inspire and acknowledge the next generation of women in STEM," said Lauren Paige, Vice President Public Affairs & Strategic Initiatives at L'Oreal USA. "Our Research and Innovation division employs more than 4,000 people around the world and 70 percent of them are women. From research and manufacturing to finance and marketing, L'Oreal relies on the contributions women make in the STEM fields throughout our entire company."

The L'Oreal For Women in Science program is a global program that rewards women scientists around the world at critical stages of their career. Since the program began in 1998, more than 2,000 scientists in over 100 countries have been recognized for their work in the field. Celebrating its twelfth year in the U.S., the For Women in Science program has awarded 55 post-doctoral women scientists more than $2 million in grants.  The 2014 For Women in Science fellows included a bioengineer, astrophysicist, polymer chemist, evolutionary biologist and chemist, each conducting innovative research with the potential to impact people's lives and our world.

"The L'Oreal USA For Women in Science fellowship made a huge difference at a critical moment in my research," said Dr. Katie Brenner, 2014 For Women in Science fellow.  "The funding allowed me to complete a set of experiments that might otherwise have been impossible and the networking opportunities that L'Oreal provided led me to form a new collaboration with researchers across the country."   

The 2015 L'Oreal USA For Women in Science Fellowship application period is open from February 2, 2015 until March 20, 2015. Candidates should have exceptional academic records and intellectual merit, clearly articulated research proposals with the potential for scientific advancement and outstanding letters of recommendation from advisers. Since 2014, applicants are also evaluated in part on their commitment to supporting women and girls in STEM. Winners will be announced by September and the awards ceremony will take place in October in Washington, D.C. Applications and additional information are available at www.lorealusa.com/forwomeninscience.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) partners with L'Oreal USA to manage the program's two-round application and peer-review process.  In the first round, applications are evaluated by experienced scientists in the candidates' respective fields.  In the second round, a distinguished jury of eminent scientists and former North American L'OREAL-UNESCO For Women in Science Laureates evaluates the top-ranked candidates and selects the five winners.  Each year, the program attracts talented applicants from diverse scientific fields, representing some of the nation's leading academic institutions and laboratories.

ABOUT L'OREAL USA

L'Oreal USA is the largest subsidiary of the L'Oréal Group, the worldwide leader in beauty. L'Oreal USA manages a portfolio of 28 iconic global beauty brands, including Clarisonic, Essie, Garnier, Giorgio Armani Beauty, Kerastase, Kiehl's, Lancôme, L'Oréal Paris, Matrix, Maybelline New York, NYX, Redken, Soft-Sheen Carson, Urban Decay and Yves Saint Laurent Beaute. In addition to its corporate headquarters in New York City, L'Oreal USA has research, manufacturing, distribution and retail facilities across thirteen other states including Arkansas, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas and Washington with a workforce of more than 10,000 employees. For more information, visit www.LorealUSA.com or follow on Twitter @LOrealUSA.

ABOUT AAAS

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org) as well as Science Translational Medicine (www.sciencetranslationalmedicine.org) and Science Signaling (www.sciencesignaling.org). AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes some 261 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of 1 million. The non-profit AAAS (www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy; international programs; science education; and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, www.eurekalert.org, the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS.

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SOURCE L'Oreal USA