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 and the Caribbean, East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Central and South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), the Elsevier Foundation, and The World Academy of Sciences 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.
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 publication database, and an expense-paid trip to the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 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, chemist, Pakistan Janet Ayobami Adermola, physicist, Nigeria Aderoju Amoke Osowole, chemist, Nigeria Denise Evans, biologist, South Africa Nahla Ismail, chemist, Egypt Lubna Tahtamoouni, biologist, Jordan María Magdalena González Sánchez, astrophysicist, Mexico Lisset Hermida Cruz, biologist, Cuba Silvina Pellegrinet, chemist, Argentina
2013
The 2013 awards were focused on medical science and public health. Adediwura Fred-Jaiyesimi, pharmacologist, Nigeria Nasima Akhter, medical scientist, Bangladesh Dionicia Gamboa, molecular biologist, Peru Namjil Erdenechimeg, biochemist, Mongolia Huda Omer Basaleem, community health researcher, Yemen
2014
The 2014 awards were focused on chemistry. Nilufar Mamadalieva, 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, 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