List of women scientists in the 21st century

This is a list of notable women scientists active in the 21st century.

Albania Mimoza Hafizi (born 1962), Albanian physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton, cosmology and theoretical physicist Afërdita Veveçka Priftaj (1948–2017), Albanian physicist

Algeria Yasmine Amhis (born 1982), French-Algerian physicist

Andorra Magda Marquet (born 1958), Andorran biotechnologist

Argentina Sonia Álvarez Leguizamón (born 1954), urban anthropologist studying poverty Zulma Brandoni de Gasparini (born 1944), Argentine paleontologist and zoologist Constanza Ceruti (born 1973), Argentine archaeologist and anthropologist Rachel Chan (graduated 1988), led group of research scientists to create more drought resistant seed in Argentina Perla Fuscaldo (born 1941), Argentine egyptologist

Armenia Vandika Ervandovna Avetisyan (born 1928), botanist and mycologist; major contributor to knowledge of the flora of her native Armenia Ninet Sinaii, epidemiologist

Australia Carol Armour (fl. 2006), medical researcher specializing in asthma Anne Astin (graduated 1976), biochemist active in dairy development Katherine Belov (born 1973), Australian geneticist, Tasmanian devil cancer researcher Phyllis Butow (fl. 2010s), medical researcher specializing in psycho.oncolocgy Clara Chow (fl. 2020), medical researcher specializing in cardiovascular disease Suzanne Cory (born 1942), Australian molecular biologist Donna Cross (fl. 2011), medical researcher specializing in child heath Hannah Dahlen (fl. 2008), medical researcher specializing in midwifery Jean Finnegan, Australian scientist, researches flowering processes and epigenetic regulation in plants Jane Hall (fl. 2016). health economist Carolyn Geczy (fl. 2005), medical researcher in immunology Bronwyn Hemsley (fl. 2008), medical researcher specializing in speech pathology Camille Goldstone-Henry, Australian businesswoman and wildlife scientist Felice Jacka (fl. 2017), medical researcher specializing in nutritional psychiatry Cheryl Jones (fl 1994), medical researcher specializing in peaediatroc infectious diseases Gisela Kaplan, ornithologist and primatologist noted for her research in animal cognition, communication and vocal behaviour of primates and specifically native Australian birds Kate Leslie (born 1962), medical researcher specializing in anaesthesia Lyn March (fl. 2004), medical researcher specializing in inflammatory arthritis Naomi McClure-Griffiths (born 1975), American-Australian astrophysicist. Discovered a new arm of the Milky Way galaxy Michelle Lincoln (fl. 1997), medical researcher specializing in health service delivery in rural communities Jessica Melbourne-Thomas (born 1981), marine ecologist and ecosystem modeller with the Australian Antarctic Division Sue O'Connor Australian archaeologist, discovered the world's oldest fish hooks which were found in an adult female's grave Vanessa Pirotta (fl. 2020s), wildlife scientist employing innovative technologies Carol Pollock (fl. 2021), medical researcher specializing in kidney health Annamma Dorai Raj (1959–2024), rheumatologist Helen Reddel (fl. 2000), researcher specializing in respiratory medicine Lesley J Rogers (born 1943), Australian ethologist and neuroscientist, expert in brain laterality Moninya Roughan (born 1974), physical oceanographer, expert in the dynamics and warming of the East Australian Current Una M. Ryan (born 1966), patented DNA test identifying protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium Cathie Sherrington (fl. 2010), geriatrician specializing in fall prevention Justine R. Smith (fl. 2015), ophthalmic surgeon specializing in vision research Helen Alma Newton Turner (1908–1995), geneticist and statistician, expert on sheep genetics Carden Wallace (fl. 1970–), marine biologist and museum director, expert on corals Leonie Walsh, first Lead Scientist of Victoria Stephanie Watson (fl. 2021), medical researcher specializing in ophthalmology Sarah Wayland (fl. 2005), social worker and health researcher Rachel Webster (born 1951), astrophysicist, educator Mary E. White (1926–2018), paleobotanist

Austria Elisabeth Binder (graduated 1995), Austrian neuroscientist specializing in anxiety disorders Claire F. Gmachl (born 1967), Austrian-born American electrical engineer, educator Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Austrian researcher specializing in ecosystem ecology Lisa Kaltenegger (born 1977), Austrian astronomer, educator Christine Mannhalter (born 1948), molecular biologist Elisabeth Ruttkay (1926–2009), Austrian Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeologist Eva Schönbeck-Temesy (1930–2011), Hungarian-born Austrian botanist

Barbados Velma Scantlebury (born 1955), first woman of African descent to become a transplant surgeon in the U.S.

Belgium Ingrid Daubechies (born 1954), Belgian physicist and mathematician Véronique Dehant (born 1959), geodesist and geophysicist Véronique Gouverneur (born 1964), chemist, educator, specializing in organic fluorine compounds Yaël Nazé (born 1976), Belgian astrophysicist specializing in massive stars

Bolivia Sonia Alconini (born 1965), Bolivian archaeologist of the Formative Period of the Lake Titicaca basin Kathrin Barboza Marquez (born 1983), Bolivian biologist specializing in bat research

Brazil Mariza Corrêa (1945–2016), anthropologist, sociologist Livia Eberlin analytical chemist, co-inventor of the MassSpec pen Fátima Ferreira (born 1959), biologist, physician, educator, now vice-rector at the University of Salzburg specializing in molecular allergology Dorath Pinto Uchôa (1947–2014), archaeologist Lúcia Mendonça Previato (born 1949), biologist Alba Zaluar (1942–2019), anthropologist specializing in urban anthropology Mayana Zatz (born 1947), molecular biologist and geneticist

Cameroon * Georgette D. Kanmogne, Cameroonian American geneticist and molecular virologist

Canada Karen Bailey, plant pathology Karen Beauchemin (born 1956), ruminant nutrition research Roberta Bondar (born 1945), neurologist, astronaut, educator Kirsten Bos, physical anthropologist, molecular paleopathologist Lindsay Cahill, chemist Juliet Daniel (fl. from 2001), focus on cancer biology Martine Dorais, plant physiology, organic horticulture Laura Ferrarese, astronomer Roberta Gilchrist (born 1965), Canadian archaeologist specializing in medieval Britain Sheena Josselyn, Canadian neuroscientist Francesca M. Kerton, chemist Julia Levy (1934–2024), microbiologist, immunologist, entrepreneur Mary MacArthur (1904–1959), botanist, cytologist Deborah Martin-Downs, aquatic biologist, ecologist Diane Massam, linguist Natalie Panek, mechanical engineer and space scientist Elizabeth Pattey, agricultural meteorologist Heather Pringle, writer on archaeology Kathleen I. Pritchard, oncologist, breast cancer researcher and noted as one of Reuter's most cited scientists Line Rochefort, Canadian ecologist Francine Saillant (born 1953), anthropologist, writer Sandra Schmid (born 1958), cell biologist Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein, animal ethologist Sara Seager (born 1971), Canadian-American astronomer and planetary scientist Felicitas Svejda (1920–2016), horticulturalist Sandra Witelson, neuroscientist Jeanny Yao, biochemist and technology entrepreneur Rachel Zimmerman (born 1972), Canadian-born space scientist

Chile Ligia Gargallo, chemist, educator Paula Jofré (born 1982), astronomer and astrophysicist María Teresa Ruiz, (born 1946) astronomer Veronica Vallejos, marine biologist and Antarctic researcher Ana Vásquez-Bronfman (1931–2009), Chilean-French sociologist

China Margaret Chan (born 1947), Chinese (Hong Kong), health specialist, director-general of the World Health Organization Zeng Rong, biochemist specializing in proteins Jian Xu, CTO at IBM, software engineer Zhao Yufen (born 1948), chemical engineer Qian Zhengying (1923–2022), Chinese hydrologist and politician Lü Zhi (born 1965), giant panda expert and conservationist Tu Youyou (born 1930), Chinese pharmaceutical chemist and malariologist

Colombia Diana Marcela Bolaños Rodriguez (born 1981), marine biologist studying flat worms and stem cell regeneration Ana Maria Rey (born 1976/1977), theoretical physicist María del Pilar Jiménez Alzate, medical biological researcher

Croatia Snježana Kordić (born 1964), linguist Nina Marković, physicist and professor

Cuba Herminia Ibarra, economist

Czech Republic Eva Syková (born 1944), neuroscientist researching spinal cord injury

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Raïssa Malu, physicist, educator and politician

Denmark Anja Cetti Andersen (born 1965), astronomer, astrophysicist Lene Hau (born 1959), physicist Sine Larsen (1943–2025), chemist and crystallographer Signe Normand (born 1979), biologist, ecologist, educator

Dominican Republic Idelisa Bonnelly (1931–2022), marine biologist who created first sanctuary in the North Atlantic for humpback whales Aída Mencía Ripley, clinical psychologist

Finland Tuija I. Pulkkinen (born 1962), Finnish space scientist

France Aurore Avarguès-Weber (born 1983), cognitive neuroscientist Hélène Bergès (born 1966), director of the Plant Genomic Resources Center (CNRGV), plant geneticist Mireille Bousquet-Mélou (born 1967), mathematician Rut Carballido Lopez, Spanish-born microbiologist and research director in Paris Merieme Chadid (born 1969), astronomer, explorer and astrophysicist Françoise Combes (born 1952), astrophysicist Anne Dejean-Assémat (born 1957), biologist researching liver cancer Rose Dieng-Kuntz (1956–2008), Senegalese born French computer scientist specialising in artificial intelligence, first African woman to enroll in the École polytechnique. Catherine Feuillet (born 1965), French molecular biologist who was the first scientist to map the wheat chromosome 3B Françoise Gasse (1942–2014), paleobiologist specializing in lacustrine sediments Laurence Lanfumey (born 1954), French neuroscientist Dominique Langevin (born 1947), physical chemist Claudine Rinner (born 1965), amateur astronomer Martine Tabeaud (born in 1951) French geographer, specialist in climatology Fabiola Terzi (born 1961), physician-scientist

Germany Andrea Ablasser (born 1983), German immunologist working in Switzerland Katrin Amunts (born 1962), prominent neuroscientist involved in brain mapping Ulrike Beisiegel (born 1952), German biochemist, researcher of liver fats and first female president of the University of Göttingen Sibylle Günter (born 1964), theoretical physicist researching tokamak plasmas Hanna von Hoerner (1942–2014), astrophysicist Eva-Maria Neher (born 1950), German biochemist, microbiologist Nina Papavasiliou, immunologist Elisabeth Piirainen (1943–2017), philologist Ilme Schlichting (born 1960), biophysicist Brigitte Voit (born 1963), chemist

Greece

Lydia Kravraki, computer scientist, professor at Rice

Guadeloupe Dany Bébel-Gisler (1935–2003), Guadeloupean sociolinguist and ethnographer

Hungary

Katalin Balázsi (born 1978), material scientist researching nanomaterials and ceramics Katalin Karikó (born 1955), biochemist researching mRNA vaccines, 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

India Joyanti Chutia (born 1948), work spans both centuries, focusing on physics Seetha Coleman-Kammula (born 1950), Indian chemist and plastics designer, turned environmentalist Paramjit Khurana (born 1956), Indian biologist specializing in plant biotechnology Shobhana Narasimhan (graduated 1983), Indian physicist, professor of theoretical sciences in Bangalore Priyamvada Natarajan (graduated 1993), Indian-born American astronomer, educator Manju Ray (1947–2021), Indian biochemist developing anticancer drugs Seema Bhatnagar (born 1971), Indian scientist, working in the field of anticancer drug discovery

Indonesia Adi Utarini (born 1965), Indonesian public health researcher who works on disease control of dengue fever Elizabeth A. Widjaja (born 1951), Indonesian researcher of bamboo taxonomy Karlina Leksono Supelli (born 1958), Indonesian philosopher and astronomer