Three mathematicians named winners of the 2026 L’Oréal-UNESCO ‘Young Talents France’ Prize

The L’Oréal-UNESCO Young Talents France programme For Women in Science aims to promote and support the involvement of young women in scientific research. This programme identifies and recognises talented young female researchers in the life and environmental sciences, materials sciences, mathematics, computer science and information sciences, and engineering and technology.

The 2026 edition honours 35 doctoral and post-doctoral researchers, whose research addresses the major scientific challenges of the future and who are committed to passing on their passion to future generations of female researchers.

Discover the 2026 winners in mathematics:

Brune Massoulié grew up in Cambridge, in the United Kingdom. Curious from a very early age, she was captivated by the beauty of mathematics. After studying at the École Polytechnique and completing a Master’s degree in probability, she undertook a PhD focusing on particle systems – mathematical models that describe, for example, water freezing. She sought to understand how long it takes for such a system to reach equilibrium. Having defended her thesis at the Centre for Research in Mathematical Decision-Making (CEREMADE1) last June, she is now continuing her research in Germany, where she is undertaking a postdoctoral fellowship, with the aim of passing on her passion to young women.

• Her personal website

Claudia Rella grew up in Tivoli, near Rome. After completing a bachelor’s degree in physics at La Sapienza, a master’s degree at Oxford and a PhD in Geneva, she is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHES), within the Alexander Grothendieck Laboratory (LAG)1. Her work lies at the interface between mathematics and theoretical physics: she studies the symmetries and hidden structures behind the laws that govern nature on a very small scale. Committed to sharing knowledge, she is dedicated to fostering a more open and representative scientific community.

• Her personal website

Sonia Mazelet grew up in Maisons-Alfort, in a family of scientists, particularly female scientists. After completing a preparatory course and attending the École normale supérieure in Paris-Saclay, she specialised in artificial intelligence, then spent a year at Berkeley studying how the brain represents our position in space. At the Centre for Applied Mathematics (CMAP)1, she is currently working on a PhD at the intersection of mathematics, artificial intelligence (AI) and neuroscience: she is applying artificial intelligence to the analysis of brain data.

• Her personal website