2023 Nobel laureate Anne L’Huillier predicts more women will win Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry as female representation grows in labs and research. She highlights changing mindsets and the importance of inspiring young scientists.
More women will win Nobel Prizes in the science disciplines in future as their numbers in labs and research teams grow, 2023 physics prize laureate Anne L'Huillier told AFP on Tuesday.
Her comments came as the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics to three US-based men for their work on quantum mechanical tunnelling.
Women in Science Gaining Ground
"It's changing, there will be more and more women winning the Nobel physics and chemistry prizes. I'm totally convinced," said the French-Swedish researcher on the sidelines of a conference in Copenhagen.
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"For the Nobels, the Academy looks at work that was done about 30 years ago so it will all take time," she stressed.
L'Huillier won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics with France's Pierre Agostini and Hungarian-Austrian Ferenc Krausz for research using ultra-quick light flashes that allow scientists to study electrons inside atoms and molecules.
That year proved exceptional for women, who secured four Nobel prizes.
Slow but Visible Progress
L'Huillier is only the fifth woman to win the physics prize since 1901, among 230 laureates. In chemistry, only eight women have won out of 197 recipients.
Notably, Marie Curie remains the only person to have won Nobel Prizes in two different science disciplines — physics (1903) and chemistry (1911).
Inspiring the Next Generation
"What is important, what really counts, is the discovery of course, the excellence," L'Huillier said. "But I think it's clear that at the Academy, there is a kind of pressure to reward women."
She noted that women were historically less visible in science, though attitudes are changing. Since 2018, three women have received the physics Nobel, reflecting a broader shift.
Around 30 percent of researchers in her Lund University lab in southern Sweden are women.
"I’m proud to be the fifth woman to win the physics prize," she said. "But it also comes with a lot of responsibilities — probably even more than for my male colleagues — to inspire young people and encourage the next generation of scientists."
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