University of Cambridge physicist Professor Athene Donald has recently been awarded the Science and Technology Award by Glamour magazine in recognition for her lifetime of achievements.

Professor Donald, who is the Deputy Head of the Department of Physics, beat out such candidates as scientist Baroness Susan Greenfield and internet entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox to win the prize from the iconic women's lifestyle magazine.

In announcing the award in their latest edition, the magazine praised Professor Donald as a "great role model" who has "forged a real path for herself in the male-dominated world of physics."

Professor Donald was surprised by the honour. "I didn't know anything about the award until someone rang me up to congratulate me," she said. "I was delighted to see that a women's lifestyle magazine had picked up the importance of science and technology, identifying it as one of the six categories in which awards were made," she added.

The award gives Professor Donald a chance to bring attention to the under-representation of women in the fields of science and technology, an issue she has cared about for a long time. "I am very keen to get the message across that science is okay for young girls. That you can be a mother and look like a normal person and not wear a white lab coat all day."

Although very pleased about the award, Professor Donald thinks that much more can be done to encourage the participation of young women in science. "From my perspective, it would have been even better if the magazine had used the opportunity to showcase the excitement of science to those readers making decisions about subjects to study at A-levels."

"Certainly in my own field—physics—still far too few women study the subject at A-levels or beyond,” she added. "The field would benefit from the skills of more bright young women."

In addition to her academic work, Professor Donald is also the Director of the University of Cambridge Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Initiative (WiSETI). WiSETI aims to address the imbalance between the sexes in the sciences by boosting the number of women in science at all levels, from undergraduate to professorial.

Professor Donald has worked at the Cavendish Laboratory for 27 years, since 1983, and was appointed as Professor there in 1998. This is not the first time that she has been recognised for her work and her career. Last year, she was awarded the prestigious L'Oreal UNESCO Laureate for Women in Science Award for her outstanding contribution to science.

Quoted in her award citation in Glamour as stating, "My philosophy is trying to use physics to solve problems that physicists traditionally have not solved," Professor Donald's work focuses on biological and soft systems, including the exploration of generic factors underlying neurodegenerative diseases such as CJD and Alzheimer's.