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On Friday, the Ministry of National Education in Jakarta played host to a group of prominent women attending an event held by French cosmetics brand L’Oreal. These women were a lot more than just pretty faces, however. Among them were Dr. Fenny Martha Dwivany, Dr. Fatma Sri Wahyuni and Dr. Wiratni — three of Indonesia’s top scientists who have previously been awarded the L’Oreal-Unesco Women in Science fellowship program.

First established in 1998 by L’Oreal, the award aims to acknowledge, encourage and support female researchers from around the world. The French company partnered with Unesco in 2004. L’Oreal gives both national and international versions of the award. Since its inception, 500 women scientists from 50 countries, including 17 from Indonesia, have received grants to fund their research.

“Science is a major source of progress,” said Jean-Christophe Letellier, president director of L’Oreal Indonesia. “We believe at L’Oreal that beauty is a scientific adventure of endless research and innovation. We want beauty [for the women], of course, but we also want women to take part in whole society by contributing their best abilities. The world needs science and science needs women.

“Dedicating your life to science would be a meaningful life and source of progress for Indonesia,” he said.

Arief Rachman, who heads the Indonesian National Commission for Unesco, agreed with Letellier.

“Women are the backbone of the country,” he said. “Based on the collaboration between L’Oreal and Unesco, we’ve seen so far that their contributions in science should never be ignored. Through their resilience and undying enthusiasm, women have achieved very outstanding results.”

Fenny, an assistant professor at Bandung Institute of Technology’s School of Life Sciences and Technology, was a previous recipient of the award. In 2006, Fenny received Rp 70 million ($7,800) from the L’Oreal-Unesco national fellowship program. In 2007 she received $40,000 from the international program. She was also named one of the top 100 women scientists in Indonesia by the Indonesian National Commission for Unesco.

Her biotechnology research focuses on the ripening process of bananas. “I have loved bananas since I was a kid,” Fenny said. “The banana seller who knocked on our door back then is still the same guy who comes to our house today.”

Through her conversations with the banana seller, Fenny learned how unsold bananas usually rot at the end of the day and became unsellable. “They have to be thrown away. [The vendor] loses money when this happens,” she said.

This prompted Fenny to start thinking about the ripening process in bananas. Now she is researching how to control it, by silencing the ACC Oxidase that is responsible.

“We aim to produce transgenic [genetically modified] bananas,” she said. The transgenic fruit is expected to retain the vitamin content and taste of bananas but stay fresher for longer.

Fenny is currently working with the Queensland University of Technology in Australia and the BB-Biogen laboratory in Bogor for her research. “In a couple of years, we should be able to release the transgenic bananas to the market,” she said.

In 2007, through the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Lapan), Fenny submitted a proposal to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to see if they were interested in studying the ripening process of bananas in outer space. Her proposal was immediately approved. JAXA plans on bringing her bananas aboard the Kibo, the Japanese experiment module attached to the International Space Station, in 2012 for research purposes.

“We’re also exploring the possibility of space-farming bananas for the astronauts’ consumption,” she said. “It would be the first Indonesian life-science experiment conducted in outer space.”

Fenny said being a successful scientist is not easy. “Sometimes, I work 24 hours a day. But I am happy to do it.” Fenny has to balance a career and family life, and calls herself lucky to have a husband who supports her profession. When she became a visiting scientist at the University of Queensland in Australia last year, for example, her husband tagged along to share the child-rearing responsibilities. “It’s tough, but doable,” she said.

Fatma can easily relate to Fenny’s concerns about balancing work and family. “As a woman scientist, you have to be a power woman,” said the lecturer from the pharmacology department of the Andalas University in Padang, West Sumatra. “Unlike your male counterparts, you have to juggle work and family well at the same time.”

As the mother of a teenage daughter and a five-year-old son, Fatma finds herself conflicted every time she has to be away from her family to conduct research on finding a cure for cancer, but she recognizes the importance of her work.

“The number of cancer patients is rising yearly,” she said. “But the medicines are expensive and not widely available. If we can find a cure in local ingredients, it may help cancer patients in Indonesia.”

Fatma was also awarded Rp 70 million by the L’Oreal-Unesco national fellowship program in 2006 to fund her research on extracting an anti-cancer compound from local spice asam kandis . She had successfully isolated a new compound, tetrapreniltoluquinol, from the bark of asam kandis trees.

“The compound has been proven in vitro [in experiments] to inhibit lung cancer at the G1 phase without attacking normal cells,” she said.

The G1 phase is the major period of cell growth in which cancerous cells are preparing to synthesize proteins.

However, Fatma still has a long way to go in her research. “It may take many years before we can release the drug to the market,” she said.

To conduct comprehensive studies and tests, Fatma works in collaboration with University Putra Malaysia in Selangor. This means that she is in Malaysia for months on end. “My husband, who is also a pharmacology lecturer, understands and supports my research,” Fatma said. “We just have to arrange our schedule to make it work for both of us.”

Wiratni, a lecturer in biochemistry at the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, has the same concerns as Fenny and Fatma. “I already had my career before I got married,” she said. “So [understanding my job] became part of my premarital deal [with my husband].”

Growing up, Wiratni always loved science. Her parents were both engineers. They made sure that she always had interesting science books to read at home.

She decided to major in chemical engineering at university. Research has been her passion ever since.

“Research starts with a question,” she said. “The most exciting part is finding the answer by using a systematic approach.”

Her proposal to create biodegradable plastic from liquid wastes of tapioca factories earned her a grant from the L’Oreal-Unesco national fellowship program in 2007.

“Factory waste is literally useless,” she said. “It would be very good if we could create something useful with it.”

In Wiratni’s research, waste is consumed and transformed into biodegradable polymers for plastic by Cupriavidus necator , a single-cell bacteria.

“We’ve successfully extracted and made biodegradable plastic,” she said. “But it still takes some time to produce it commercially in large quantities. Currently, the process is still expensive and takes a long time.”

F or her research, Wiratni often has to work 30 hours straight to monitor her samples in the lab. “It’s a highly intense job,” she said. “It’s rather tough for women.”

On the other hand, she also finds it exciting. “It’s got a flexible schedule, unlike the office’s nine-to-five,” she said. “And you’re your own boss. I’ve also traveled around the world because of my research.”

Her success has even inspired some of her students to follow in her footsteps. “In the old days, most students would aim to work for multinational companies after graduating from chemical engineering,” she said.

“But now a couple of students have told me they want to become scientists.”

The selection process for the 2011 L’Oreal-Unesco Women in Science fellowship is currently ongoing. The new recipients will be named in September.

“There are two keys to making research successful,” Wiratni said. “The first is applicability. The research should be something really necessary for real life. The second is that scientists should always expand their networks. What’s the use of a big idea if no one knows about it?”

Dr. Endang Sukara, chairman of the national fellowship jury, agreed with Wiratni.

“Research proposal should be innovative and pose new challenges,” he said. “We are always excited to see new ideas and what research methodologies the scientists are going to use.”