The Call for Applications for the 2022 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards is OPEN!
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.
The awards program grew out of a one-time award given in 2011 by OWSD, the Elsevier Foundation and TWAS, the World Academy of Sciences, which was given to 11 early career women from developing countries working in STEM subjects. In 2013, the awards program was launched, with the number of awards reduced to 5 per year on a three-year rotation of award categories. The eligible scientific disciplines for each year were organized into general fields: Biological sciences; Engineering, innovation & technology; and Physical sciences.
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After ten years of celebrating women in science, in 2021 they have decided to re-focus the awards to respond to the call for action set forth by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The number of awards will continue to be 5 per year (one from each OWSD region plus one additional outstanding candidate) for a period of five years (2022 – 2026).
The OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards have an important impact on local research cultures. Previous winners say the awards have had a powerful effect, enhancing the visibility of their past work and creating new opportunities for the future. The awardees are also powerful role models for young women in science.
Benefits
- Cash prize of USD 5,000.
- All-expenses-paid trip to attend the Awards Ceremony to be held at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in February 2022. The trip will be confirmed in the coming months according to how the COVID-19 pandemic evolves; it may be that the awards ceremony is celebrated online. Awardees will not be required to travel if they judge the situation to be unsafe.
- 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.
Eligibilities
- 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 climate action and the environment.
- 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 the advance of knowledge in the area of climate action and the environment and to achieving the SDG13 (Climate Action), SDG14 (Life Below Water) and/or SDG15 (Life on Land).
- The application can include, but is not limited to, reference to SDG13, SDG14 or SDG15 sub-targets, e.g.: effective climate change-related planning, protecting marine and coastal ecosystems, halt biodiversity loss, conserve and sustainably use ecosystems, strengthen resilience to climate-related hazards, and more.
- Eligible scientific 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
- Any combination of these fields (i.e. interdisciplinarity) is acceptable. 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.
Application Process
Applications must be made online, in English, and must include:
- Official documentation proving 5 years’ residency in an eligible STLC .
The following documents can be submitted as proof of residence as long as the name of the applicant (as written in the online form) appears clearly: statement from the local police office or municipality, population registry office, rental agreement, utilities bills, employment contract. This list is not exhaustive and alternative documents can be considered. Please write to [email protected] if you are not sure about the eligibility of your documents.
- Evidence on how your research contributes to advancing the SDG13 (Climate Action), SDG14(Life Below Water) and/or SDG15(Life on Land).
- Short biography of approximately 350 words describing your journey to become an outstanding scientist (for ease, we recommend that you prepare this beforehand and copy-paste into the text box)
- PhD certificate
- Curriculum vitae
- Full list of publications (if not included in the CV)
- At least 2 reference letters (reference letters must be prepared on official letterhead and should be written and signed by senior scientists familiar with your research).
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Application Deadline: October 28, 2021
Application ClosedOfficial link
