AN Oxford University researcher has won an award after tracking the movements of homing pigeons with mini sat-nav kits.

Dr Dora Biro, of Oxford University’s zoology department, was one of four women across the country to pick up a £15,000 L’Oréal Unesco For Women in Science Award.

Dr Biro, 34, fitted the miniature sat-nav devices to pigeons to help study their behaviour while in flight.

Dr Biro and fellow researchers began their study with homing pigeons at a field station near Oxford and completed it in Budapest.

Dr Biro and fellow scientists studied the flights of 10 birds on a 15km journey across the Hungarian capital.

The backpacks enabled the scientists to explore spatial relationships between individual birds, and the movement decisions they made.

The team measured shifts in the flight direction of each bird every 0.2 seconds and checked the changes across different birds in the flock, to determine which ones initiated any change in direction and which followed.

Dr Biro said: “I am delighted to get this award – you don’t usually get recognised like this in the world of academia.”

The Royal Society Research Fellow added: “The prize is designed to encourage young women to go into science and to encourage women who are thinking of leaving their jobs to stay in them.”

The fellowship awards have now been running for four years and 900 women in 90 countries benefited from extra funding.

Julie McManus, head of scientific and technical-regulatory affairs for L’Oréal UK, said: “With the For Women in Science programme we hope to draw attention to the excellent work being undertaken by female scientists across the UK and Ireland, while also providing the financial support necessary to support women’s careers in science.

“Past recipients of the award have gone on to make important scientific discoveries and win Nobel Prizes.”