Women’s science award backed by Royal Society criticised for allowing trans entrants despite landmark Supreme Court gender ruling

A prestigious women’s science awards backed by the Royal Society has been criticised for allowing transgender women to enter despite the landmark Supreme Court gender ruling.

The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science UK awards gives £25,000 grants to five ‘outstanding early-career women scientists’ to further their research and boost female representation in the sector.

But the awards – which is supported by the UK’s national academy of sciences – has been criticised as it allows entries from anybody who ‘identifies as [a] female postdoctoral level researcher’.

Women’s rights groups have criticised the move as ‘unlawful’ in light of April’s Supreme Court ruling and said it harms women who have ‘historically experienced discrimination because of their sex’.

They have written to the Royal Society and L’Oréal urging them to amend the eligibility criteria to bring it in line with equality law ahead of the application deadline closing on 20 August.

The Royal Society, the world’s oldest continually existing scientific academy, was first established in 1660 and boasts the likes of Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein as previous members

In April the Supreme Court ruled that sex in the Equality Act refers to biological women and men and not to self-identification or the possession of a gender recognition certificate (GRC).

This means that women only shortlists or scholarships – known as ‘positive action’ discrimination and designed to address under-representation – must be for biological women only.

The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Programme has been running since 1998 and the UK awards were launched in 2007. It has supported dozens of the country’s brightest researchers in the fields of science, engineering, maths and computer science.

Under the title ‘who is eligible?’, a leaflet for the 2025 awards says: ‘Candidates must identify as female postdoctoral level researchers.’

Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at human rights charity Sex Matters, said that anti-discrimination law permits positive action such as all-women shortlists because ‘women have historically experienced discrimination because of their sex’.

She said of the awards: ‘Since the For Women Scotland judgment in the Supreme Court in April, it’s been clear that this entry criterion isn’t just nonsense, it’s unlawful.

‘Making it even worse, the Royal Society – the UK’s most prestigious scientific body – supports this programme.

‘It’s well past time world-famous institutions and companies gave up trashing their reputations with virtue-signalling gender nonsense, and brought themselves back in line with the law, and material reality.’

Billionaire Elon Musk has been a Fellow at the Royal Society since 2018 but narrowly escaped being expelled earlier this year following a backlash by member over his comments and behaviour, as well as his role in the Donald Trump administration

Current fellows of the Royal Society include naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough and inventor Sir James Dyson

The awards is supported by the Royal Society, which was founded in 1660 and is made up of many of the world’s most eminent scientists. Past fellows and members include Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Dorothy Hodgkin and Stephen Hawking.

Current fellows include naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, inventor Sir James Dyson and Tesla founder Elon Musk, who has previously spoken out in favour of biological reality.

The X owner narrowly escaped being expelled from the Royal Society earlier this year following a backlash by member over his comments and behaviour, as well as his role in the Donald Trump administration.

A L’Oréal Young Talent Awards spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the eligibility criteria would be amended but said the applications would close tomorrow ‘as planned’.

She added: ‘For almost 20 years, the L’Oréal – UNESCO Young Talent Awards have celebrated excellence in scientific research. Recognising and encouraging a rich pipeline of top talent is core to the programme’s mission to foster a variety of perspectives that enrich problem solving and creativity in STEM.’ 

UNESCO UK and the Royal Society were approached for comment.