We’re very proud to share the news that Professor Kate Watkins has been named one of this year’s Suffrage Science Award recipients.
The Suffrage Science Awards, conceived to honour pioneering women in science, celebrated achievement in the Life Sciences in March 2026. The awards took place on the evening of Monday 9 March 2026, when 11 recipients received their awards at a dual-venue ceremony in the heart of Oxford’s University Science Area. The evening kicked off with a welcome reception and the awards were hosted in the Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building. A panel discussion on global challenges and opportunities facing women scientists and a talk followed at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology.
Co-founder of the awards Professor Dame Amanda Fisher hosted the event with Professor Liz Robertson of the Dunn School, and science writer and presenter Kat Arney, freelance communicator at First Create The Media.
The scheme originally recognised pioneering leaders solely in life sciences, but this grew to also honour women in the fields of engineering and physical sciences, and in mathematics and computing.
There are now almost 200 holders of the Suffrage Science heirlooms creating a network of inspirational women from across the globe.
Kate was nominated by Faraneh Vargha-Khadem, who writes: “It is my great pleasure to nominate Professor Kate Watkins as a recipient of the 2026 Suffrage Science Awards. Kate is a leading cognitive neuroscientist whose research has transformed our understanding of the neural basis of speech and language. Starting from her PhD project, Kate has carried out ground-breaking research in developmental speech and language disorders, including verbal and oral-motor dyspraxia associated with a mutation in the FOXP2 gene, and developmental stuttering. She leads the Brain, Speech and Language Research Group at the University of Oxford where she has combined state of the art neuroimaging techniques with non-invasive brain stimulation to deliver mechanistic insights with clear translational implications. She has also provided exceptional academic leadership and service to the field.”
Watch AM Lindsay Whittle congratulate Kate in the Sennedd here!
Many congratulations to Kate and all her fellow recipients!