An Argentine physicist won the prestigious prize "For women in science"

The Argentine physicist Karen Hallberg has today received the Oréal-Unesco International Latin America Prize, which aims to promote women who stand out in the scientific world and to draw attention to the low presence of women in this activity.

Hallberg, a professor at the Balseiro Institute and director of research at the Atomic Center in Bariloche, has been awarded for the development of advanced computer-based approaches to understanding quantum physics, said UNESCO and the L 'Oréal Foundation in a statement.

Also for his contribution "fundamental for the understanding of nanoscopic systems and new materials" with "innovative and creative" applications.

In collaboration with Argentina, Chemistry and Director of the Nature Conservation Center of the American University of Beirut, Najat Aoun Saliba, of the African Region and the Arab States, and the Director General of the Institute of

Molecular Sciences of Japan, Maki Kawai, Asia-Pacific Region.

As well as Professor of Mathematics and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University in the United States, Ingrid Daubechies of North America; and the mathematician and professor at the Collège de France Claire Voisin, a native of Europe.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the L 'Oréal Foundation have also put forward the names of the 15 most promising scholars among the fellows.
Among them, from Latin America and the Caribbean, is María Molina, a specialist in chemistry and molecular biology at the National University of Río Cuarto, Argentina; and Ana Sofía Varela, attached to the Institute of Chemistry of the Autonomous University of Mexico.

Biola María Javierre Martínez, Spanish, genomics expert at the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute.

The two promoters of these awards recalled that, in the world, only 29% of researchers are women and occupy only 10% of the positions of increased responsibility in the universities.

The proportion is still much lower if we consider the percentage of women who received a Nobel Prize in a scientific field (3%).