PhD fellowships for Sub-Saharan Africa women scientists

The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World, or OWSD, is offering postgraduate training fellowships for women scientists from Sub-Saharan Africa and least developed countries, to pursue postgraduate research in the natural sciences.

The fellowship initiative is for female students who want to pursue postgraduate training leading to a PhD at centres of excellence in the global South, outside their own country.

Under the initiative funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, applicants must have a minimum qualification of a masters in science or equivalent or an "outstanding” honours degree in the natural sciences, engineering or information technology.

The fellowships are being offered for up to three years. The students must undertake studies at a centre of excellence in a developing country that is not their home country, and must be willing to return home after completing the fellowship.

Students already enrolled for a PhD may apply for a sandwich option that “gives them access to expertise and resources that might not be available at the home institute”.

“The general purpose of the scheme is to contribute to the emergence of a new generation of women leaders in science and technology, and to promote their effective participation in the scientific and technological development of their countries,” said OWSD.

The eligible scientific fields are: agricultural sciences; structural, cell and molecular biology; biological systems and organisms; medical and health sciences; neurosciences; chemical sciences; engineering sciences; information technology; astronomy, space and earth sciences; mathematical sciences; and physics.

Applications close on 31 May 2016.