Nobel Prize winner Tim Hunt, who said that scientists should work in gender-segregated labs, has resigned from his position as honorary professor at University College London (UCL).

Sir Tim Hunt made comments about the “trouble with girls” in science because they cause men to fall in love with them.

UCL said Tim Hunt – a Royal Society fellow – had resigned from his position within its faculty of life sciences.

Tim Hunt, 72, also said at a conference in South Korea that women in labs “cry” when criticized and “fall in love” with male counterparts.

A statement from the university read: “UCL can confirm that Sir Tim Hunt FRS has resigned from his position as honorary professor with the UCL faculty of life sciences following comments he made about women in science at the World Conference of Science Journalists on June 9.

“UCL was the first university in England to admit women students on equal terms to men, and the university believes that this outcome is compatible with our commitment to gender equality.”

Tim Hunt – who was awarded the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine in 2001 for his work on how cells divide – reportedly told the World Conference of Science Journalists in Seoul, South Korea: “Let me tell you about my trouble with girls.

“Three things happen when they are in the lab: you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them they cry.”

The British biochemist, who was knighted in 2006, said the remarks were “intended as a light-hearted, ironic comment” but had been “interpreted deadly seriously by my audience”.

Tim Hunt also admitted that he had a reputation for being a “chauvinist”.