Professor Robert Freedman (a long-standing CHM associate) has just presented a paper at Charles University, Prague, entitled 'Women's role in the establishment of biochemistry in the UK: 1900-1945', based on work done in collaboration with Hilary Marland and Drs Vicky Long and Stephen Soanes, former PhD students in CHM (project pages here). The conference was entitled 'Gendering Science: Women and Men Producing Knowledge' and was organised by the Commission on Women and Gender Studies in STM of the International Union of the History of Science. The paper reported on a project funded by the Biochemical Society as part of the celebration of its centenary in 2011. It focussed on the biographies of the first three women members elected to the Biochemical Society in 1913 (and a few of their contemporaries) and then aimed to analyse the common features behind their successful careers in science. These included the excellent schooling available to daughters of the liberal bourgeoisie in late 19th century English cities, the supportive environments of women's colleges of London and Cambridge universities, the relative openness of this new discipline compared to its 'parents' Chemistry and Physiology, the critical role of well-placed supportive male mentors, and the 'appropriateness' of this new scientific field in terms of its relationship to traditional women's concerns with the domestic, especially hygiene and nutrition.