OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award

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.^[1]^[2]

This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. (December 2019)

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.^[3]^[1] The award program is open to female scientists who live and work in one of 81 developing countries.^[1] Nominations are generally submitted within ten years of the nominee earning a PhD.^[4]^[5]

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).^[6]^[1] There were six awardees in 2022 as two outstanding candidates were recognised.

As of 2014, the award included an honorarium of US$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.^[4]

Recipients have included:

2011

The 2011 awards recognized eleven contributors to biology, physics, and chemistry.^[7]

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.^[5]

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.^[8]

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.^[8]

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.^[9]

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.^[10]

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^[11]
Witri Wahyu Lestari, organometallic chemist, Indonesia^[12]

2019

The 2019 awards focused on medical science and public health.^[1]

Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, ethnobotonist, Bolivia
Uduak Okomo, health services, Nigeria
Tabassum Mumtaz, environmental biotechnologist, Bangladesh
Amira Shaheen, public health researcher, Palestine^[13]
Tista Prasai Joshi, chemist, Nepal

2020

The 2020 awards recognised researchers working in engineering, innovation and technology.^[14]

Susana Arrechea, chemical engineer and nanotechnologist, Guatemala
Champika Ellawalla Kankanamge, environmental engineer, Sri Lanka
Chao Mbogo, computer scientist, Kenya^[15]
Samia Subrina, electronic engineer and nanotechnologist, Bangladesh
Fathiah Zakham, bioengineer and microbiologist, Yemen

2021

The 2021 awards recognised researchers in the physical sciences.^[16]

María Eugenia Cabrera Catalán, particle physicist, Guatemala^[17]
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.^[18]^[19]

Abeer Ahmed Qaed Ahmed, microbiologist, Yemen
Heyddy Calderon, hydrologist, Nicaragua
Gawsia Wahidunnessa Chowdhury, aquatic ecologist, Bangladesh^[20]
Flor de Mayo González Miranda, environmental engineer, Guatemala
Myriam Mujawamariya, forest ecologist and ecophysiologist, Rwanda
Ashani Savinda Ranathunga, geotechnical engineer, Sri Lanka