OWSD – Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early Career Women Scientists in Developing World

Purpose

• The OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early Career Women Scientists reward and encourage women working and living in developing countries who are in the early stages of their scientific careers, having often overcome great challenges to achieve research excellence. Awardees must have made a demonstrable impact on the research environment, both at a regional and international level, and must have received their PhD in STEM in the last ten years.

Prize Details

• Each winner will receive a cash prize of USD 5,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to attend a relevant international conference.

Eligible Countries

• Applicants must have lived and worked for at least 5 of the last 15 years in one of the following science- and technology-lagging countries (STLCs):
  • Africa
    • Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini (Kingdom of), Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
  • Arab region
    • Djibouti, Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip), Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen.
  • Asia & the Pacific
    • Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Lao People’s Dem Rep., Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.
  • Latin America & the Caribbean
    • Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible scientific fields
  • The awards seek applications from women researchers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) – and how they intersect with the aforementioned SDGs.
  • Applications from candidates in the Social sciences, Humanities, Arts, or other are not eligible.
  • The eligible STEM fields are as follows:
    • Agricultural Sciences
    • Astronomy, Space and Earth Sciences
    • Biological Systems and Organisms
    • Chemical Sciences
    • Computing and Information Technology
    • Engineering Sciences
    • Mathematical Sciences
    • Medical and Health Sciences (including Neurosciences)
    • Physics
    • Structural, Cell and Molecular Biology
  • Any combination of these fields (i.e. interdisciplinarity) is acceptable.

Selection Criteria

• The selection committee looks for excellent science of relevance to and with a demonstrable impact in the developing world. Innovative techniques or methodologies (especially with regard to sustainable development) will be favourably considered. Applications that demonstrate an awareness of the importance of sex and/or gender considerations in research methodology and content may be prioritised. Additionally, researchers are encouraged to demonstrate interdisciplinary collaboration within the natural sciences, but also with the social sciences and humanities.
• Assessment is based on the applicant’s achievements in her scientific field, with additional attention paid to evidence of leadership skills, initiative and innovation, as well as to the candidate’s involvement in capacity building, outreach and civic contribution.

For more information, visit Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD).