Postgraduate Fellowships for Women Scientists from Sub-Saharan Africa and Least Developed Countries

Postgraduate Fellowships for Women Scientists from Sub-Saharan Africa and Least Developed Countries

Brief description:
This fellowship programme is for female students from Sub-Saharan Africa or Least Developed Countries (LDCs) who wish to pursue postgraduate training/studies leading to a doctorate degree at a Centre of excellence in a developing country outside their own country.
An applicant who wishes to register as a PhD student at her home institute can choose a sandwich option, whereby part of the research programme is undertaken at a host institute in another developing country.  Alternatively, an applicant can enroll as a full-time research student at an institution outside her country.
Host Institution(s):
Host institutions must be located in a developing country other than the applicant’s home country.  In case of difficulty in selecting host institutes, TWOWS can provide a list of centres of excellence in the South, compiled by TWAS. This information will be provided if the applicant informs TWOWS of the precise field of proposed research.
Field of study:
Postgraduate research in a field of the natural sciences
Number of Awards:
Not specified.
Target group:
Only women scientists from Sub-Saharan Africa and/or one of the Least Developed Countries can apply:
Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros Islands, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Vanuatu, Yemen and Zambia.
Note: Sub-Saharan African countries that are not in the list are eligible under the programme.
Scholarship value/inclusions:
Each fellowship will be offered for three years and will cover travel expenses, a modest monthly living allowance, the amount of which will be determined in consultation with the host institution.
Eligibility:
•  The fellowships are open to qualified young women science graduates (generally below 40 years of age) from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and/or LDCs.
• The minimum qualification of applicants is an M.Sc. degree (or equivalent), or an outstanding B.Sc. honours degree, in the natural sciences.
•  Following recent discussions with donors, earlier restrictions that limited eligible research projects to those in the basic sciences have been dropped. Therefore, applications can now be accepted from female scientists in all branches of the natural sciences.
•  Applicants already on site in the host country will not be considered eligible.
•  The host institute where the applicant wishes to pursue her doctorate degree must be in a developing country other than her own.
•  The applicant must be willing to return to her own country after completion of the fellowship.
Application instructions:
Applicants are encouraged to apply for postgraduate admission to their selected host institution in advance.  To this purpose, it is recommended that applicants contact the chosen host institute(s) with the CV and short research proposal, mentioning that they are intending to apply for a TWOWS fellowship. When submitting the application to TWOWS, however, it is not obligatory that the applicant has either applied and/or obtained admission at the host institute.
Applications should be submitted by email OR post and should reach the TWOWS secretariat by 31 July of each year.
It is important to visit the official website (link found below) to download the application form and to know more about how to apply for this scholarship.
Contact information:

Website:
Official Scholarship Website:  http://www.twows.org/activities/postgraduate-training-fellowships-for-women-scientists-in-sub-saharan-africa-and-least-developed-countries-ldc-at-centres-of-excellence-in-the-south