Capacity

OWSD builds scientific capacity in the Global South by supporting early career women scientists to lead high-impact research in their home institutions

Early Career Fellows are creating centres of excellence, mentoring future scientists, and driving institutional change - laying the foundation for stronger, more inclusive research systems.

Since its launch in 2018, the OWSD Early Career Fellowships programme has become a flagship initiative for supporting women to build research capacity in low and middle-income countries.

Each fellowship, valued at up to USD 50,000 over three years, enables women scientists to establish research activities, develop laboratories, and build research groups that address critical development challenges. With enhanced components in science communication, advocacy, and policy engagement, the programme supports not only the fellows but also the institutional environments they help transform.

By 2025, 139 fellows have been awarded: 57 have completed their fellowships, and 77 are ongoing.

Current fellows are working on a range of projects that use advanced scientific knowledge and expertise to respond to local, national and regional needs, including using Artifical Intelligence to find vulnerabilities in health and energy infrastructures in Tanzania; preserving oak forests in Guatemala's mountain ranges; and developing antibodies from goat plasma to develop anti-venom against snakebites in Nepal. 

The link between OWSD national chapters and successful applications is strong: 9 of the 13 countries represented by selected fellows currently host OWSD chapters. 

This synergy underscores the strategic role that chapters play in building sustainable capacity. Their efforts serve to expand outreach and support women scientists to access OWSD opportunities.

Attachments

    Women scientists networking
    EC Fellow demonstrates working with leather
    Black women scientist using a pipette in the lab
    A bag of dried greens
    Black woman scientist identifies a plant
    Insect on a plant
    A woman scientist in a dimly lit laboratory
      Women scientists networking

      Fellows have the opportunity to meet around the world

      EC Fellow demonstrates working with leather

      An early career fellow demonstrates working with leather

      Black women scientist using a pipette in the lab

      Credit: Nicole Leghissa - EC Fellows are supported in their valuable research

      A bag of dried greens

      Credit: Nicole Leghissa - EC Fellows enhance the knowledge of people in their region

      Black woman scientist identifies a plant

      Credit: Nicole Leghissa - Food security and bio-diversity

      Insect on a plant

      Credit: Nicole Leghissa - EC Fellows are researching in food security and pest control

      A woman scientist in a dimly lit laboratory

      Credit: Nicole Leghissa - An EC Fellow busy identifying plant samples

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