BLASTING away the stereotype that scientists are mad male professors with goggles and white coats are two of Oxford's most promising female scientists.

Both Dr Maria Bruna and Dr Sam Giles beat 400 other applicants to win the L'Oreal-UNESCO UK and Ireland Women in Science Fellowships worth £15,000 for their scientific achievements at Oxford University.

Dr Bruna is a junior research fellow at St John's College and has applied her work to particle separation technologies which is used in food and pharmaceutical industries.

The mathematician said: "This support will place me in the best possible position to apply for a permanent academic position in a field which is at the moment male dominated.

"The birth of my son in January has imposed a natural break to my research programme.

"I will use the fellowship to provide flexible childcare arrangements for my son, so that I can further develop key collaborations and projects."

Dr Bruna will use the funds to organise a workshop in Oxford and to pay for childcare, allowing her to make research visits to collaborators in London, Warwick and Munster in Germany.

The L’Oréal- UNESCO For Women in Science programme aims to support and increase the number of women working in sciences and the fellowships can be spent on whatever they need to continue their research.

Dr Giles, a junior research fellow at Christ Church, said the funding increase will allow her to develop her research plans by buying vital equipment and travel to international conferences.

She said: "The flexibility of funds allowed by the fellowship represents a truly unique opportunity to expand my horizons and network with other successful women in science, while also providing practical help with childcare fees, positively impacting my work-life balance."

The paleobiologist's research will help understand how the evolution of the brain contributed to the success of ray-finned fishes.

She added the fellowship also provides an unrivalled opportunity to network with other successful female scientists who can provide valuable mentoring advice on how to juggle motherhood with the demands of academic research.

In the UK women are still underrepresented in the science community with only 15 per cent of STEM roles taken by women.

Dr Steve Shiel, scientific director at L' Oreal UK and Ireland, said: "At a time when there’s still a significant gender imbalance in the UK science community, it’s vital that organisations like ours find ways to support women in getting into and staying in science.

"As a company founded on science, we are committed to helping breakdown the barriers standing between students and potential scientific careers because, simply, science needs women."