Three young Latvian scientists Dr. chem. Daniela Godiņa, Dr. phil. Anne Sauka and Mg. Līga Ignatāne are announced the winners of the Women in Science Baltic Fellowship contest launched this year by the Latvian Academy of Sciences and Latvian National Commission for UNESCO.
The Women in Science Baltic Fellowship, established by the National Academies of Sciences of the Baltic States, in cooperation with the UNESCO National Commissions, announced a joint contest for young women scientists in June 2024. Winners of the contest are granted nine fellowships of 7,000 euros each.
The goal of the joint fellowship is to support young women scientists so that they can build a career in the field of scientific research in the Baltic States, as well as popularize the achievements of young women scientists and encourage the most talented women students to choose the profession of a scientist.
Līga Ignatāne is a researcher at the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia (ISSP UL) and a PhD candidate. The topic of the dissertation is aimed at nanostructure fabrication with a focused ion beam. The availability of the newest generation of double-beam microscopes in Latvia and the ever-closer collaboration with biologists allow the creation of new and more accurate solutions for the detection of various substances even at low concentration. During her master's degree studies, she managed to work as teacher of physics at the Valmiera State Gymnasium, and during her doctoral studies, she was a part-time coordinator of the Taiwan and the Baltic States Research Center in Physics. Since 2015, everyday life is going on in the ISSP UL laboratories, but folk dances have always been present. She ended her career as member of the dance ensemble “Daiļrade”, but since 2021 Līga has been leading the youth dance group “Sadancis”.
