EU rewards three women for contribution to innovation

The European Union (EU) on Friday announced rewards for three women for their contribution to innovation and science. The winners of the 2014 EU Prize for Women Innovators were Saskia Biskup from Germany, Laura van 't Veer from the Netherlands and Ana Maiques from Spain. The three winners will receive their prizes from President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso at the opening ceremony of the Innovation Convention 2014 in Brussels on March 10 and 11. "I want to congratulate these three outstanding scientists and entrepreneurs on their achievements. Their work is advancing knowledge and making a contribution to economic growth and to quality of life in Europe. Just as importantly, they are a great example to women everywhere of the exciting options open to them," Barroso said. Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, said: "Despite some advances in recent years, women in research and entrepreneurship remain a minority. This is a waste of talent that we cannot afford. We have to foster gender equality and also raise the profile of successful women innovators. This prize does exactly that." Although the proportion of female researchers in Europe is increasing, the under-representation of women in scientific disciplines and careers still persists. According to the "She Figures" report published by the European Commission, women represent only 33 percent of European researchers, 20 percent of full-time professors and 15.5 percent of heads of institutions in the higher education sector. Similarly, on average, women make up 30 percent of entrepreneurs in the EU, but often face greater difficulties than men in starting up businesses and in accessing finance and training.