The L’Oréal – UNESCO national scholarship program „For Women in Science”, this year at its 8th edition, awarded its laureates last night. Mădălina Bârsan, Lavinia Curecheriu, Luminiţa Confederat and Dumitriţa Rugină won a 42,000 lei scholarship to continue their research projects.
Mădălina Bârsan studies the properties of Q coenzyme in hybrid cyclodextrin polymeric structures as a marker for oxidative stress. She is a researcher at the National Institute of Materials Science Research and Development, graduated from the Faculty of Chemistry and holds a master’s degree in electrochemistry and a doctorate in biochemistry.
Lavinia Curecheriu is Doctor of Physics, university assistant at „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi and researcher at the same institution. The project for which the scholarship was awarded focuses on the theme of polymeric composites designed for flexible electronics.
Luminița Confederat is a PhD student at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy „Grigore T. Popa” in Iasi, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Luminița graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy, is a PhD student in clinical pharmacy and, in order to have a complete view of the research area she is dedicated to, she also attends the courses of the Faculty of Medicine. The project for which she received funding in the competition analyzes modulation of the hypoglycemic profile of sulphonylureas and the development of multi-target therapeutic systems for the treatment of diabetes.
Dumitriţa Rugină, from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Cluj-Napoca, specializes in plant and agro-alimentary biochemistry, analytical biochemistry, biotechnology and cell biology. The project for which the scholarship was awarded addresses the issue of biocompatible microcarriers developed to deliver anthocyanins to skin tumor cells.
The jury brought together renowned researchers from the Romanian scientific community:
– Scholar Maya Simionescu – Vice-President of the Romanian Academy, Director of the „Nicolae Simionescu” Institute of Cell Biology and Pathology;
– Scholar Maria Zaharescu – Head of Laboratory of Oxidic Compounds and Materials Science at the Institute of Physical Chemistry „Ilie Murgulescu”;
– Prof. Univ. Dr. Marius Enăchescu – Director of Center for Surface Science and Nanotechnology, Polytechnic University of Bucharest;
– Prof. Dr. Ing. Cristian Pîrvu – Vice Dean Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Polytechnic University of Bucharest;
– Dr. Elena Butoi, researcher at „Nicolae Simionescu” Institute of Cell Biology and Pathology, winner of the national scholarship program in 2011;
– Conf. Univ. Dr. Alida – Timar Gabor, Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, „Babeş-Bolyai” University of Cluj-Napoca, winner of the national scholarship program in 2014.
The L’Oréal – UNESCO national scholarship program „For Women in Science” was held between February and May 2017 and addressed to Romanian researchers aged 35 or over, either PhD students or PhD, pursuing a postgraduate program in an accredited higher education institution in the country.
Launched internationally in 1998 by L’Oréal and UNESCO, „For Women in Science” program was the first program by which female researcher work has been recognized internationally by awarding dedicated prizes. The program was launched in Romania in 2010 and 17 scholarships of 42,000 lei each have been awarded so far, to young women researchers from the areas of Life Sciences and Physical Sciences.
