For men only? Lack of women winners for million-euro science prize draws protests

Article here. Excerpt:

'At a June ceremony in the scenic Swiss village of Villars, three scientists each collected a huge new prize: 1 million Swiss francs ($1.1 million) to invest in their research to safeguard the planet against various environmental tipping points. The prizes were courtesy of the Frontiers Research Foundation (FRF), the nonprofit parent of the big open-access publisher.

Younger women scientists who co-authored winning papers accompanied their colleagues onto the stage, smiling uncomfortably: All the winners of this year’s Frontiers Planet Prize (FPP), with a cash award bigger than the Nobel Prize, were men, just as they were last year.
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“I grew frustrated during the ceremony when one award after another went to a man,” says Gabriela Schaepman-Strub, an earth systems scientist at the University of Zürich and a 2024 finalist. Within days, Schaepman-Strub spearheaded a letter to FPP Director Jean-Claude Burgelman and other higher-ups at FRF. It was signed by five of this year’s seven women finalists. “The situation experienced last week was a real setback for gender equality and diversity,” they wrote. “Providing only male colleagues with a substantial grant cements the gender inequality that many universities are fighting against.”'