atom*innen

A weekly data drop by atom*innen that asks questions about the visibility of women in physics — and answers them with numbers. Each week, we take a close look at one physics award: How many people have been honoured, and how many of them were women? The findings are turned into short, easy-to-share graphics to make patterns in recognition and visibility easier to see — and to start conversations.

Explore the editions.

Each edition comes with two graphics: a quiz and a reveal. Click any graphic to view and download it, then share the data and help start a conversation.

About the data
Physics Counts uses publicly available information and carefully compiled award recipient lists. Data published with permission of the Working Group on Equal Opportunities of the German Physical Society (DPG) .

Awards of the German Physical Society (DPG)

Hover to see percentages · Click on a bar for more info.

Men Women n = total number of awards

* Hertha-Sponer-Preis is explicitly open to women only.
† Otto-Hahn-Preis: Shown here is the current prize (11 awards, 0 female laureates, 0.0%). Predecessor prizes: Otto-Hahn-Preis für Chemie und Physik (13 awards, 1 female laureate, 7.7%) · Otto-Hahn-Preis der Stadt Frankfurt am Main (20 awards, 1 female laureate, 5.0%).


Award laureates at a glance

Select a prize to see all laureates visualised.

Total awards
Female laureates
Share of women
Men Women

Source: DPG Working Group for Equal Opportunities (Arbeitskreis Chancengleichheit), Statistiken zur Situation von Physikerinnen in Deutschland · elaborated by atom*innen, last update: 07.07.2026

Nobel Prize in Physics:
Only 5 of 229 laureates are women.

Double-click on the teal figures to learn more about female Nobel Prize laureates.
Men (224) Women (5)
Women
5 laureates2.2%
Men
224 laureates97.8%

Source: Nobel Prize Committee · elaborated by atom*innen, last update: 27.03.2026

Explore gender distribution data across international and national physics prizes.
PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

International
National Physical Societies
DPG — German Physical Society
14 prizes · Bar chart · Laureates grid
data available
ÖPG — Austrian Physical Society
Data in preparation
coming soon
SIF — Italian Physical Society
Data in preparation
coming soon
RSEF — Royal Spanish Physics Society
Data in preparation
coming soon

Please enlarge to better view the data.
Source: Eurostat (link to dataset)

 

 

 

 

More Articles …