Women in Science in Scotland

As Scotland’s National Academy, the RSE is proud to number amongst its Fellowship some of the most talented leaders, thinkers and practitioners working in Scotland today.

Polly Arnold, Mercedes Maroto-Valer, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Anna Dominiczak, Silvia Paracchini, Sue Black, Karen Faulds, Lesley Yellowlees, Anne Glover posing for a photo — *Photographs by Ian Georgeson Photography*

Launched on Tuesday 16 April 2019, the exhibition was displayed in the main reception of the RSE building before moving to Glasgow’s Mitchell Library; it focuses on and celebrates some of the exceptional women scientists within the Fellowship.

View the exhibition

Dr Deborah A. O’Neil

Dr Silvia Paracchini

Professor Becky Lunn

Professor Cait MacPhee

Professor Catherine Heymans

Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak

Professor Dame Anne Glover

Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell

Professor Dame Muffy Calder

Professor Dame Sue Black

Professor Eva Hevia

Professor Hilary Critchley

Professor Ineke DeMoortel

Professor Karen Faulds

Professor Lesley Yellowlees

Professor Louise Heathwaite

Professor Mandy MacLean

Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer

Professor Niamh Nic Daéid

Professor Nicola Stanley-Wall

Professor Polly Arnold

Professor Raffaella Ocone

Professor Rona MacKie

Professor Ruth King

Professor Sharon Ashbrook

Professor Sheila Rowan

The exhibition launch coincided with an event featuring former RSE Presidents, Professor Dame Anne Glover and Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell, alongside former RSE Young Academy of Scotland member and RSE Fellow, Dr Silvia Paracchini, who all feature in the exhibition. The three women discussed their experiences of being women in science.

Meet Scotland’s women in science

Dr Deborah A. O’Neil

I‘m an Immunologist by training and believe that fighting infection through the same or similar mechanisms which the body’s immune

Dr Silvia Paracchini

I’m a Human Geneticist but there’s nothing in my past that suggests that that’s what I would become. My journey

Professor Becky Lunn

I currently lead a major project sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Civil Engineering Contractor, BAM Nuttall,

Professor Cait MacPhee

I am a Soft Matter and Biological Physicist, which means I study anything that wobbles when you poke it. Professor

Professor Catherine Heymans

Working as a teenage Mary Poppins on a summer ‘dude ranch’ in Texas, I found myself fearing that my brain

Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak

Transformative innovations in medicine and public health require triple helix collaborations between the NHS, academia, and industry. Professor Dame Anna

Professor Dame Anne Glover

As a child, I used to sit down every week and watch Star Trek, with all its iPads, body scanners,

Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell

My greatest desire is not to be the only woman on a committee or a slate of speakers as so

Professor Dame Muffy Calder

I wanted to be a scientist for as long as I can remember, and I went to university to study

Professor Dame Sue Black

I am an Anatomist and a Forensic Anthropologist. By exploring the intricacies and variability of the human body, my disciplines

Professor Eva Hevia

I am a Synthetic Chemist who, in general terms, can be described as a molecular architect. Our research focuses on

Professor Hilary Critchley

I am a Clinical Academic and have the privilege of working with patients. This offers me the opportunity to understand

Professor Ineke DeMoortel

I’ve always liked mathematics, even as a small child. I liked its rigour and simplicity, but I came to realise

Professor Karen Faulds

My research involves developing the technique of surface-enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) for multiplexed bioanalytical applications. Professor Karen Faulds Raman involves

Professor Lesley Yellowlees

I loved science from an early age. I loved doing experiments, loved mathematical challenges, loved problem-solving. I was fortunate to

Professor Louise Heathwaite

I am an Environmental Hydrologist with a BSc in Environmental Sciences. I did a PhD in Wetland Hydrochemistry that inspired

Professor Mandy MacLean

I am a Pharmacologist and studied Pharmacology at Edinburgh University, both for my BSc and PhD. I was always interested

Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer

I have a natural curiosity for knowledge, so research and university are natural fits for me. I came to Scotland

Professor Niamh Nic Daéid

I was born in Dundee and grew up in Ireland in a family of scientists. My parents were scientists involved

Professor Nicola Stanley-Wall

I’ve always been interested in biology. I was that child who got the frog spawn out of the pond and

Professor Polly Arnold

I make unusual molecules from the metals at the bottom ofthe periodic table. We don’t know enough about their bonding,and

Professor Raffaella Ocone

I am an Engineer who works in academia. I was the first woman to be Professor of Chemical Engineering in

Professor Rona MacKie

I was Professor of Dermatology at the University of Glasgow 1978–2000, the first time in its 500-year history that a

Professor Ruth King

I am an Applied Statistician. I develop new methods and techniques for analysing different types of data, particularly in the

Professor Sharon Ashbrook

Although I was always interested in science at school back in Liverpool, my first aim in life was to be

Professor Sheila Rowan

I’m an Experimental Physicist. I carry out research designing and building instrumentation for observatories that have detected the first gravitational

The Royal Society of Edinburgh

Women in Science in Scotland

Meet Scotland’s women in science

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Women in Science in Scotland

Meet Scotland’s women in science

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