During the 20th annual L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards ceremony, the duo launched a new initiative aimed at contributing to better gender balance in science for more effective progress.

The Men for Women in Science, as the new program is known, encourages male scientists to sign a charter of clear and measurable commitments with the following objectives: promoting access to research funding for women; providing equal recruitment opportunities; and striving to achieve a better balance in publications and copyrights.

“We want to accelerate change towards improved gender balance and effectiveness in science in order to help advance scientific understanding for the benefit of all and better address the challenges facing today’s world,” says Jean-Paul Agon, President of the L’Oréal Foundation.

Some 25 eminent male scientists have already committed to the initiative, including mathematician Cedric Vilani, geneticist Axel Kahn, Étienne Klein, Research Director at the CEA (French Atomic Energy Commission), and Mouin Hamze, Secretary General of the CNRS (French National Council for Scientific Research) in Lebanon.