Alicia Dickenstein Receives the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Award

Each year, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the L’Oréal Foundation honor five exceptional female scientists with the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards. Recipients are recognized for their scientific accomplishments, unique career paths, outstanding talents, and profound commitment to their professions in traditionally male-dominated fields. The award committee selects one recipient from each of five different regions: Africa and the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America. SIAM is happy to share that Alicia Dickenstein (University of Buenos Aires) is the 2021 laureate for the Latin America and Caribbean region!

Per the prize citation, Dickenstein was “recognized for her outstanding contributions at the forefront of mathematical innovation by leveraging algebraic geometry in the field of molecular biology. Her research enables scientists to understand the structures and behavior of cells and molecules, even on a microscopic scale. Operating at the frontier between pure and applied mathematics, she has forged important links to physics and chemistry and enabled biologists to gain an in-depth structural understanding of biochemical reactions and enzymatic networks.”

Dickenstein, who received her Ph.D. from the University of Buenos Aires, was recently elected to the SIAM Council and began her three-year tenure on January 1, 2021. She is also a member of the SIAM Activity Group on Algebraic Geometry and the SIAM Activity Group on the Life Sciences, and she serves as a corresponding editor for the SIAM Journal on Applied Algebra and Geometry. Dickenstein’s research interests center on the computational aspects and applications of algebraic geometry, particularly in the context of polynomial and biological systems.

“My first reaction to receiving one of the five 2021 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards was, of course, great happiness on a personal level and gratitude to my family, students, and coauthors,” Dickenstein said. “I very much hope that all the publicity around this award helps girls realize that mathematics is a career that everyone, regardless of gender (as well as race, social status, etc.), can choose and enjoy. I am also happy because math is not a very ‘popular’ discipline, so this is a recognition for all of us.”