She has been recognised with a Young Talent programme award for her work on nanomaterials and emerging photovoltaic technologies.

Dr Sasitharan, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, said: “I am very grateful to L’Oréal UK and UNESCO for this recognition as the winner in the sustainable development category. This award helps to consolidate my independence in research and provides me with flexible funding to develop self-cooling energy storage systems. My work aims to look beyond water-intensive cooling strategies for electronics to help sustainably manage the cooling demands of the ever-growing digital infrastructure.

“This award means a lot to me because it will have a far-reaching effect on my research progress at this crucial early career stage and makes me feel like my ideas and I belong in science. It gives me the confidence to continue pursuing ambitious ideas with impact. “

L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science UK and Ireland Young Talent Programme

The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science UK and Ireland Young Talent programme was founded in 2007 and seeks to foster exceptional talent in STEM by recognising women’s outstanding scientific contributions and achievements in addition to supporting their ongoing participation in solving the great challenges of our time.

The programme comprises of five categories (Engineering, Life Science, Mathematics & Computer Science, Physical Sciences, Sustainable Development). Each category recognises one winner and one highly commended 

The five award winners receive a fully flexible grant of £25,000 that can be used as each individual winner chooses.