A NEW FEMALE FACE OF UKRAINIAN SCIENCE

On 26 November 2025, during the official award ceremony held in Kyiv, the laureates of the 7th season of the L’Oréal-UNESCO ‘For Women in Science’ Prize 2025 were announced.
 
We sincerely congratulate Margarita Ivanivna Skyba, Doctor of Technical Sciences and Professor at the Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies, on winning this prestigious award!
 
The prize was also awarded to Olha Kapush, Candidate of Chemical Sciences and Senior Researcher at the V.E. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv), and Tetyana Dumych, Candidate of Biological Sciences and Associate Professor at Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University (Lviv).
 
The L’Oréal-UNESCO ‘For Women in Science’ programme is part of a global initiative launched in 1998 to support women in STEM fields. In Ukraine, the prize has been awarded since 2018. Each year, the jury selects three laureates from among dozens of applicants representing various scientific institutions; the winners receive a monetary award to support the advancement of their research.
 
In 2025, ten outstanding candidates from across the country reached the final stage of the competition.
 
To ensure a transparent and professional selection process, the finalists were evaluated by a distinguished jury including leading Ukrainian scientists who represented various fields – biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, etc:
 
• Valerii Viktorovych Filonenko, co-chair of the jury. Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology, Head of the Department of Cell Signaling Systems at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the NAS of Ukraine.
• Halyna Hryhorivna Minicheva, co-chair of the jury. Doctor of Biological Sciences, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology. Director of the state institution ‘Institute of Marine Biology of the NAS of Ukraine’. Head of the Department of Monitoring Methodology and Forecasting.
  • Valeriia Mykhailivna Trusova, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Head of the Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Nanotechnologies at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Laureate of the State Prize of the President of Ukraine for Young Scientists; Laureate of the Second Prize of the L’Oréal-UNESCO ‘For Women in Science’ programme; member of the European Association of Medical Physicists; member of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine.
  • Ihor Volodymyrovych Komarov, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Professor. Director of the educational and scientific institute of high technologies at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine. Laureate of the 2015 Georg Forster Research Award; laureate of the 2022 Borys Paton National Prize of Ukraine.
  • Svitlana Leonidivna Yefimova, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Head of the Y.V. Malyukin Department of Nanostructured Materials at the Institute for Scintillation Materials of the NAS of Ukraine (Kharkiv).
  • Oleksandr Mykolaiovych Tymokha, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology; laureate of the M. Krylov and M. Ostrogradsky Prizes, and the Petryshin Award in Nonlinear Analysis. Director of the Institute of Mathematics of the NAS of Ukraine.  Academic Secretary of the Mathematics Division of the NAS of Ukraine. Editor-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Mathematical Journal.
  • Serhii Oleksiiovych Kosterin, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Deputy Director and Head of the Department of Muscle Biochemistry at the O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine. Laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology. Holder of the Honorary Diploma and Distinction of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine. Laureate of the O.V. Palladin Prize of the NAS of Ukraine, the P.H. Kostyuk Prize of the NAS of Ukraine, and the Taras Shevchenko Prize of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
  • Iryna Borysivna Vavilova, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology. Holder of the Order of Princess Olha (III Class). Academician of the International Academy of Astronautics. Head of the Department of Extragalactic Astronomy and Astroinformatics at the Main Astronomical Observatory of the NAS of Ukraine.
  • Tetiana Oleksiivna Prikhna, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the World Academy of Ceramics (WAC), and the Euro-Mediterranean Academy of Arts and Sciences (EMAAS). Member of the Scientific Council of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine (NRFU), member of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance (NAQA). Head of Department at the V.M. Bakul Institute for Superhard Materials of the NAS of Ukraine.
  • Eduard Oleksandrovych Stakhovskyi, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine. Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine. Chair of the Association of Oncourologists of Ukraine, Head of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Oncourology at the National Cancer Institute.
During the interviews and subsequent discussions, the jury evaluated not only the candidates’ scientific achievements, publications, and research potential, but also their social engagement, promotion of science and further professional growth.

Margarita Skyba’s victory is a vivid example of the fact that research at USUST is of  international significance and can successfully compete with the best achievements nationwide. This is a great honour for USUST, as the university joins the most prestigious initiatives supporting women in science and actively creates conditions for their professional development. There is no doubt that such success will inspire students, postgraduate researchers, and colleagues: with determination, strong ideas, and professionalism, anyone can reach a high level.

The USUST community sincerely congratulates Margarita Ivanivna Skyba on this well-deserved recognition! We wish her new scientific discoveries, outstanding research results, inspiration, and fruitful work for the benefit of Ukrainian science.
We are grateful to the L’Oréal-UNESCO Programme for providing a platform to recognise and support talented women scientists. Together, we are shaping a future in which science has a face, regardless of gender.