The OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World are awarded annually to early-career women scientists in selected developing countries in four regions:

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

, Central and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

Asia, and

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

. The

Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) is an International organization, international organisation that provides research training, career development and networking opportunities for women scientists throughout t ...

(OWSD), the Elsevier Foundation, and

The World Academy of Sciences The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS) is a North–south research partnerships, merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting more than 1,400 scientists in some 1 ...

have partnered to recognize achievements of early-career women scientists in developing countries since the award was launched in 2011 as the Elsevier Foundation-OWSD Awards for Young Women Scientists from the Developing World. The award program is open to female scientists who live and work in one of 81 developing countries. Nominations are generally submitted within ten years of the nominee earning a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

. The maximum number of recipients is currently restricted to five per year: one from each of the four OWSD-recognized regions, plus one additional outstanding candidate, and the awards are granted with a rotating theme annually among three general fields: biological sciences (agriculture, biology and medicine), engineering/innovation & technology, and physical sciences (including chemistry, mathematics and physics). There were six awardees in 2022 as two outstanding candidates were recognised. As of 2014, the award included an honorarium of 5,000, an entire year of access to Elsevier's

ScienceDirect ScienceDirect is a searchable web-based bibliographic database, which provides access to full texts of scientific and medical publications of the Dutch publisher Elsevier as well of several small academic publishers. It hosts over 18 million ...

publication database, and an expense-paid trip to the annual meeting of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

, where the awarding ceremony is held.

Recipients

Recipients have included:

2011

The 2011 awards recognized eleven contributors to biology, physics, and chemistry. * Mahfuza Begum, biologist, Bangladesh * Rukmani Mohanta, physicist, India *

Farzana Shaheen Farzaneh (, ''Farzāneh'', meaning wise, intelligent, or highly knowledgeable), also transliterated as Farzana, Farzona or Farzane, is a Persian given name for girls common in Iran, South Asia, and Central Asia. The masculine equivalent is Farzan F ...

, chemist, Pakistan * Janet Ayobami Adermola, physicist, Nigeria * Aderoju Amoke Osowole, chemist, Nigeria * Denise Evans, biologist, South Africa *

Nahla Ismail Nahla may refer to: * Nahla, Iraq, a valley in northern Iraq * Nahla (name), an Arabic feminine given name meaning "drink of water" or “honey bee” * ''Nahla'' (film), a 1979 Algerian film See also * Nahala (disambiguation) Nahala () means e ...

, chemist, Egypt *

Lubna Tahtamoouni Lubna or Lubná may refer to: Places Czech Republic * Lubná (Kroměříž District), a municipality and village in the Zlín Region * Lubná (Rakovník District), a municipality and village in the Central Bohemian Region * Lubná (Svitavy Distric ...

, biologist, Jordan *

María Magdalena González Sánchez Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

, astrophysicist, Mexico *

Lisset Hermida Cruz Lisset Gutiérrez Salazar (born November 3, 1973), also known as Lisset, is a Mexican actress and singer. Filmography Film Television References External links * Actresses from Guadalajara, Jalisco 20th-century Mexican act ...

, biologist, Cuba *

Silvina Pellegrinet Silvina is a given name. It is a variant of Silvana, meaning "one who lives in the forest". People with the name * Silvina Bosco, Argentine actress * Silvina Bullrich (1915–1990), Argentine writer * Silvina Chediek (born 1962), Argentine jour ...

, chemist, Argentina

2013

The 2013 awards were focused on medical science and public health. * Adediwura Fred-Jaiyesimi, pharmacologist, Nigeria *

Nasima Akhter Nasima Akhter (; born 1970) is a Bangladeshi scientist who specializes in nuclear medicine. In 2010, she won the BAS-TWAS Young Scientists Prize for her research involving nuchal translucency for fetal anomalies and research into nuclear cardio ...

, medical scientist, Bangladesh *

Dionicia Gamboa Dionicia Gamboa is a Peruvian parasitologist and professor at Institute of Tropical Medicine Alexander von Humboldt, Cayetano Heredia University. Her research focusses on ''Plasmodium vivax,'' a major malaria parasite species in South America (as ...

, molecular biologist, Peru * Namjil Erdenechimeg, biochemist, Mongolia *

Huda Omer Basaleem Huda may refer to: People with the name * Huda (given name), an index of people with the given name * Huda (surname), an index of people with the surname Entities with the name * Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), the urban plan ...

, community health researcher, Yemen

2014

The 2014 awards were focused on chemistry. *

Nilufar Mamadalieva Nilufar Mamadalieva is a biochemist from Uzbekistan. Biography Mamadalieva completed a Master's in science at Fergana State University and a PhD at the Institute of the Chemistry of Plant Substances in Tashkent. She is a scientific researcher a ...

, bioorganic chemist, Uzbekistan * Leni Ritmaleni, pharmaceutical chemist, Indonesia * Simone Ann Marie Badal McCreath, biochemistry researcher, Jamaica * Eqbal Mohammed Abdu Dauqan, biotechnologist, Yemen * Taiwo Olayemi Elufioye, pharmacologist, Nigeria

2015

In 2015, the awards were focused on physics and mathematics. *

Nashwa Eassa Nashwa Abo Alhassan Eassa () is a nano-Particle physics, particle physicist from Sudan. She is an assistant professor of physics ''and'' Dean of the Deanship of Scientific Research at Al-Neelain University in Khartoum. Education Eassa received he ...

, nano-particle physicist, Sudan * Dang Thi Oanh, computational mathematician, Thailand * Mojisola Oluwyemisi Adeniyi, atmospheric physicist, Nigeria * Mojisola Usikalu, radiation physicist, Nigeria * Rabia Salihu Sa'id, environmental physicist, Nigeria

2016

The 2016 awards focused on medical science and public health. * Sri Fatmawati, pharmacologist, Indonesia * Sushila Maharjan, biochemistry researcher, Nepal * Magaly Blas, public health specialist, Peru * Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu, psychiatric epidemiologist, Uganda * Ghanya Naji Mohammed Al-Naqeb, nutritional researcher, Yemen

2017

The 2017 awards were focused on engineering and technology. * Tanzima Hashem, computer scientist, Bangladesh * María Fernanda Rivera Velásquez, environmentalist, Ecuador * Felycia Edi Soetaredjo, environmental energy specialist, Indonesia * Grace Ofori-Sarpong, environmental resource management, Ghana * Rania Mokhtar, scientific project coordinator, Sudan

2018

The 2018 awards focused on mathematics, chemistry, and physics. * Hasibun Naher, applied mathematician, Bangladesh * Germaine Djuidje Kenmoe, physicist, Cameroon * Silvia González Pérez, computational chemist, Ecuador * Dawn Iona Fox, environmental chemist, Guyana * Witri Wahyu Lestari, organometallic chemist, Indonesia

2019

The 2019 awards focused on medical science and public health. * Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, ethnobotonist, Bolivia * Uduak Okomo, health services, Nigeria * Tabassum Mumtaz, environmental biotechnologist, Bangladesh * Amira Shaheen, public health researcher, Palestine * Tista Prasai Joshi, chemist, Nepal

2020

The 2020 awards recognised researchers working in engineering, innovation and technology. * Susana Arrechea, chemical engineer and nanotechnologist, Guatemala * Champika Ellawalla Kankanamge, environmental engineer, Sri Lanka * Chao Mbogo, computer scientist, Kenya * Samia Subrina, electronic engineer and nanotechnologist, Bangladesh * Fathiah Zakham, bioengineer and microbiologist, Yemen

2021

The 2021 awards recognised researchers in the physical sciences. * María Eugenia Cabrera Catalán, particle physicist, Guatemala * Khongorzul Dorjgotov, financial mathematician, Mongolia * Ghada Dushaq, applied physicist and nanotechnologist, Palestine * Imalka Munaweera, synthetic chemist and nanochemist, Sri Lanka * Marian Asantewah Nkansah, environmental chemist, Ghana

2022

The 2022 awards recognised six researchers in climate action and the environment. * Abeer Ahmed Qaed Ahmed, microbiologist, Yemen * Heyddy Calderon, hydrologist, Nicaragua * Gawsia Wahidunnessa Chowdhury, aquatic ecologist, Bangladesh * Flor de Mayo González Miranda, environmental engineer, Guatemala * Myriam Mujawamariya, forest ecologist and ecophysiologist, Rwanda * Ashani Savinda Ranathunga, geotechnical engineer, Sri Lanka

References

{{Reflist Science and technology awards Science awards honoring women