OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards for Women Scientists in the Developing World

Awards are given to women scientists who have made significant contributions in the area of inclusive health, whose research is linked to SDG3 (Good health and wellbeing), who have received PhDs within the last ten years and who have lived and worked for at least 5 years in an eligible Scientifically and Technologically Lagging Countries (STLCs).

Given that from 2022-2026 the awards will respond to the call for action set forth by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), applicants must demonstrate how their research contributes to advancing knowledge in the area of inclusive health and to achieving the SDG3 (Good health and well-being).

Target Areas 

• The application can include, but is not limited to, references to the SDG3 target areas:
  • reducing the global maternal mortality ratio;
  • ending preventable deaths of newborns and children;
  • strengthening the prevention and treatment of substance abuse;
  • reducing the number of deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents;
  • ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services;
  • achieving universal health coverage;
  • reducing the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air,
  • water and soil pollution and contamination;
  • strengthening the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control;
  • supporting the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and noncommunicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries;
  • increasing health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries;
  • and strengthening the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks.

Prize Information

• Cash prize of USD 5,000.
• An all-expenses-paid trip to attend a relevant international conference.
• The 5 awards will be distributed as follows: one for each of the four regions of the developing world (Africa, Arab region, Asia & the Pacific and Latin America & the Caribbean), plus an additional ¨floating” award for an outstanding candidate from any of these regions.

Eligible STEM Fields

• 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

Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant must be a woman who has received her PhD in a scientific discipline within the previous ten years and whose current scientific research is related to the area of inclusive health.
• The OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards are offered to women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Applications from women in Social sciences, Humanities, Arts or other are Not eligible.
• In addition, the applicant must have lived and worked for at least 5 of the last 15 years in one of the 66 scientifically and technologically lagging countries (STLCs) listed here:
  • Africa: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Dem. Rep. Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, 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, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
  • Arab Region: Djibouti, Palestine (West Bank & Gaza Strip), Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen.
  • Asia & 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 & Caribbean: Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay.
• Please note: The 5 years of residence in the eligible country do not have to be consecutive.
• Applicants can be citizens of any country, provided that they fulfil the above residence requirement.

For more information, visit OWSD.