Peru Society Wins IFSCC Prize

The 2017 Lester Conrad Education Prize was won by the Asociación Peruana de Química Cosmética (the Peruvian Association of Cosmetic Chemists), accordign to the International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists (IFSCC). The award money of CHF 8,000 (about $8,132 at current exchange rates) pays for a three-year educational program proposed by the winning Society. The Peruvian Society will put into place their proposed educational program in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and this will feature a series of international speakers.


Only Societies based in countries where average income is relatively low are eligible to apply for this prize.


The Chair of the Lester Conrad Education Prize is IFSCC Honorary Secretary Carmina Casas, who represents the Spanish Society (Sociedad Española de Químicos Cosméticos) on the IFSCC Praesidium.


“The Lester Conrad Education Prize is awarded to a Society that is already doing well, to give them the means to do even better,” Casas said in a statement. “As a recipient of our 2016 Ecaterina Merica Cosmetic Education Programme, the Peruvian Society proved to us that they were serious about providing meaningful educational programmes to their Members. We are delighted that they won the 2017 Lester Conrad Education Prize.”


Manuel Li, president of the Asociación Peruana de Química Cosmética, based in Lima, Peru, was very grateful to win this prize.


“The support from the IFSCC will permit us to offer our members three years of high-quality education we could not afford on our own,” said Li. “Also, we hope our outstanding programmes will attract new members to our society. Many thanks to the IFSCC for choosing us.”


The last winner of the Lester Conrad Educational Prize was the Hong Kong Society of Cosmetic Chemists, which won the prize in 2012 for educational programs in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The next Lester Conrad Education Prize will be awarded in 2020.


Founded in 1959 by seven societies of cosmetic science, the IFSCC has grown to 48 member societies in 74 countries representing more than 16,000 individual scientists. Its mission is to support the global community of cosmetic scientists through the dissemination of scientific findings, educational offerings and an annual scientific Congress or Conference at which IFSCC awards and prizes are presented.