Priya Natarajan, one of 12 awardees of the 2025 Suffrage Science Awards honouring pioneering women in Engineering and the Physical Sciences

The scheme began in 2011 with a focus on women in the Life Sciences starting with a group of 11 women. It has since expanded and in 2014, one of the awardees was our own Vice Chancellor, Professor Irene Tracey. The scheme now recognises women in Engineering and Physical Sciences, as well as in Mathematics and Computing, celebrated on Ada Lovelace Day.

The beauty of this scheme is that each of the women who have been awarded a piece of Suffrage Science heirloom jewelery, nominate who they wish to pass on their award to every two years. Many of our award winners over the years have shared how this means so much more to them that one of their peers wants to give them recognition for their work. It also means that each heirloom creates its own ‘family tree’ as the award gets handed from one awardee to the next, creating an international network of inspiring female role models across all the Suffrage Science branches.

Since the Suffrage Science awards started, there have been 160 holders of the heirlooms creating a network of inspirational women from across the globe.