BME lecturer wins 2025 L'Oréal scholarship

Alongside two other researchers, Julianna Oláh, associate professor at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, won this year's L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science scholarship. The award, now in its 23rd year, with a total prize fund of 7.5 million forints, was presented at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

According to a statement quoted by state-run news agency MTI, Julianna Oláh (third from left in the cover photo) received the scholarship for her "outstanding research results in the more effective selection of medicines." The two other award winners, Ana Martins, a Portuguese-born microbiologist at the University of Szeged who has been living in Hungary for 16 years, making progress in the fight against Parkinson's disease, and Orsolya Pipek, a physicist at ELTE, who has distinguished herself in the identification of cancer cells.

Julianna Oláh works with computer chemical modeling to contribute to drug development and the development of catalysts for use in industrial processes. With her research group, she studies the breakdown of drugs, possible harmful by-products, and the interactions between foods and active ingredients that may affect the effectiveness of therapies.

"Essentially, we use computer programs to model the properties of molecules and study catalysts that can make manufacturing processes more efficient. 

In collaboration with a Belgian and a Chinese group, we are also working on so-called spin-switching compounds, which we hope will one day be used to develop molecular switches," said the lecturer at the Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry to bme.hu.

Her award may also have been influenced by the fact that, along with many other scientists, she is the author of a recently published important article advocating the storage of data generated in her field according to the so-called FAIR principles. (The acronym is composed of the initial letters of the words findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.)

Over the past 23 years, 63 Hungarian female researchers have received the scholarship, meaning that L'Oréal has distributed more than 95 million forints among Hungarian scientists to date. A jury of academics decides on the awards, and the programme is sponsored by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Rector's Office, Communications Directorate
photos: L'Oréal Hungary Ltd.