Past awardees of OWSD - 2019 awards in Austin Texas, USA

OWSD is happy to introduce the 26 women who have been awarded the 2021 PhD Fellowship. Hailing from 17 countries in all four OWSD regions of the developing world, the new fellows will be supported to pursue their PhDs in STEM subjects at institutions in another country in the Global South. They intend to focus their PhD research on subjects ranging from deepfake detection in video, to early detection of plant diseases using image-based deep learning, to development of a framework to foster collaborative learning through the open-source Moodle learning management system.

The winners in Africa come from 12 different countries with Cameroon and Sudan producing 3 winners respectively, while Ethiopia and Zimbabwe have 2 and Ghana, Benin, eSwatini, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda and Mozambique has produced one each. All winners shall be proceeding to pursue their scholarships in a different country other than their own.

The fellowships, including scholarships for women scientists from least developed countries to study for Postgraduate (PhD) degrees in another developing country, and grants for early career women scientists to support the purchase of equipment and other expenses needed to carry out their research. OWSD provides support to women scientists throughout their careers. As one progress from undergraduate science through to PhD research, to postdoctoral studies and beyond, one can draw on OWSD members' experience and expertise to help you through to the next stage of your career

The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) is an international organization founded in 1987 and based at the offices of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), in Trieste, Italy. It is a programme unit of UNESCO.

In 2017 OWSD announced a new fellowship for Early Career Women Scientists (ECWS), funded by Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC). This two-year fellowship provides up to USD 50,000 for women scientists employed in selected developing countries, enabling them to continue their research at an international level while based at their home institutes and to build up research groups that will attract international visitors.

Photo courtesy / OWSD

Article by Virginia Wanjiru

https://owsd.net/news/news-events/2021-owsd-phd-fellows-announced