The acknowledgement is sponsored by the Kovalevskaya Foundation and the Faculty of Mathematics and Computing of the University of Havana, and its purpose is to encourage women from developing countries to participate actively in the scientific and technological life of their nations.

Among the winners are Cuban scientists Nigreisy Montalvo, Lizet Sánchez, Yaile Caballero and Isabel Alonso, as well as Olga Lidia Perez, Sira Maria Allende, Lisset Suarez, Iliana Perez, Victoria Hernandez and Concepcion Valdes.

The foundation was named after Russian mathematician, socialist and feminist Sofia Vasilievna Kovalevskaya (1850-1891), who was the first female professor of Mathematics in Europe.

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