WHEN Le Thi Nguyet Minh first arrived here to study at the National University of Singapore in 2001, she went from being Vietnam's top biology student to earning dismal grades because of her struggle with English.
In the years since then, she has - besides brushing up on English - handled her mother's falling ill with a neuro-degenerative disease, completed her doctoral thesis, married and became a mother.
On Friday, the plucky 27-year-old became one of three winners of the inaugural L'Oreal Singapore For Women in Science National Fellowships, awarded to outstanding female researchers with the potential to contribute to and succeed in science here.
The other two winners are nanomaterials scientist Lam Yeng Ming, 35, of Nanyang Technological University, and biologist Melissa Jane Fullwood, 26, a researcher at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School.
Each of them wins $20,000, which will go some way to support their work.
Ms Le and Dr Fullwood have similar areas of interest - the role of genes in cancer; Dr Lam's work focuses on tiny materials that can detect small amounts of environmental contaminants or gases.
The trio, chosen from 22 applicants, were given their awards in a ceremony at Chijmes.
Dr Christina Chai, a chemist and a member of the selection panel, said: 'We were looking for people who are leaders, who are scientists and who will go very far.'
Winners had to fulfil other criteria: They must be Singaporeans or permanent residents engaged in research, although doctoral candidates and post-doctoral researchers were also eligible.
This year, the selection panel was on the lookout for those doing work in the life sciences; next year, the net will be cast for those in materials science.
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