Gov't offers prize to female scientists

The Ministry of Science and Technology has decided to grant a NIS 50,000 prize to outstanding and promising women scientists as a result of a suggestion from The Jerusalem Post a few months ago. Prof. Rami Rahamimoff, chief scientist of the Health Ministry and a distinguished physiologist at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, brought the proposal - made by The Post's health and science reporter - to the forum of chief scientists of all the government ministries and won approval. The proposal was made because women scientists, who entered scientific research later than their male counterparts, are poorly represented among prizewinners and because an award could encourage more women to go into these fields. Rahamimoff said Wednesday that the ministry will soon announce the establishment of the permanent prize, which would be financed jointly by the ministries. The criteria will be formulated in the near future, he said.