Indonesian woman wins science award
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
An Indonesian woman scientist has received an international fellowship "For Women in Science" award for her research in microbiology, making her the first person from this country to receive such an honor.
Along with two other scientists, one from Pakistan and one from New Zealand, Ines Atmosukarto, 31, defeated around 300 candidates from the Asia Pacific region.
"I didn't even know about the award. It was my boss who told me about it and we prepared all the requirements in a really short time, but we made it," said Ines, a researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).
Ines, who earned a doctorate from Australia's Adelaide University in 2002, has done extensive research on endophytes, micro-organisms that live inside plants and which have the potential for novel uses in the pharmaceutical industry.
"Each plant can harbor different endophytes, even plants from the same species may have different ones. So you can get some idea of just how much diversity and potential there is in Indonesia with over 250,000 species of plant growing here," she said.
Ines added that various papers showed that endophytes could produce antibiotics, fungicides, and possible new cancer treatments.
Held annually since 1998 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and cosmetics producer L'Oreal, the international "For Women in Science" award is specifically targeted at women scientists in order help enhance their positions and roles.
It has two classes, namely the laureate and the fellowship categories. Each year, five laureates and 15 fellows are selected representing five parts of the world -- Africa, Arab, Europe and North America, South America and the Caribbean, and Asia Pacific.
The laureate award is given to those who are considered to have devoted their lives to developing science. Each recipient gets US$100,000.
The fellowship award is for young women who are considered to have great potential in the scientific field. They each receive US$20,000 to finance their future studies.
The competition applies tight requirements such as the rule that candidates must be no more than 35 years old, have a doctoral degree or be in the process of earning one, and posses a commitment to humanity and gender equity.
Ines said that the next step for her would be to collect different kinds of endophytes from across Indonesia and take them to Montana State University in the United States for further study.
The country manager of PT L'Oreal Indonesia, Phillipe Bocchino, said that this was the first time that Indonesia had competed in the event.
With the success of Ines, L'Oreal Indonesia and UNESCO plan to stage a similar competition at the national level to encourage more women to get involved in science.
"With this national competition, we hope that Indonesia will be able to start sending out delegations annually onto the international stage to follow in the footsteps of Ines," said Bocchino.