At the age of 25 in 1932, Prebil began working at the Radium Institute in Paris under the tutelage of Marie Curie. Three years later, in 1935, at the age of 28, she would become the first woman in Great Britain to receive a PhD in nuclear physics.[2] It is accepted that Leigh-Smith defended her thesis in London, however it is currently unknown from what university she was granted her degree.[3]