Mobility

The PhD Fellowships programme has awarded nearly 600 fellowships, with over 400 completed to date, and an impressive 80%+ retention rate, which compares extremely favourably with all other international PhD programmes. Fellows make significant contributions to research, innovation, and institutional change in their home countries. This demonstrates how a long-term investment in individuals by donors such as the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) can catalyse broader systemic progress.

Fellows make significant contributions to research, innovation, and institutional change in their home countries, demonstrating how long-term investment in individuals can catalyze broader systemic progress.

The OWSD Women in Science Displacement Outreach Master’s programme (WISDOM) was launched in 2023 and expanded in 2024. It is OWSD’s newest initiative and a timely response to one of the defining global challenges of our era – displacement. 

Rather than creating new pathways for mobility, WISDOM supports women scientists who are already refugees, having fled conflict or crisis and resettled in countries across the Global South. 

These women often face a difficult reality: while they may be safe, their education and careers have been put on indefinite hold. WISDOM addresses this gap by offering fully funded Master’s scholarships, along with a supportive academic environment that allows them to restart their scientific journeys and build a future.

At the heart of WISDOM is a new model of South–South cooperation. OWSD works directly with selected universities in host countries, such as Jordan and Türkiye, to co-develop a framework that not only supports the scholars but also strengthens the host institutions themselves. 

Each programme iteration includes a Capacity Building component to enhance the institution’s ability to respond to gender-specific and protection-related needs, ensuring displaced students are met with inclusive policies, trained staff, and effective support systems. A student Network Building component further empowers scholars to prepare for life after graduation.

In 2024, OWSD significantly expanded the WISDOM programme, supporting two full cohorts of displaced women scientists. Following the establishment of a partnership with Hashemite University in Jordan at the end of 2023, the first cohort of 10 scholars—primarily from Syria and Palestine—began their studies in early 2024.

That same year, OWSD launched a second iteration of the programme at Istanbul Aydin University in Türkiye, awarding 14 scholarships to women from Syria, Afghanistan, and Palestine. With each implementation, the programme has evolved and strengthened, notably through a shift in administrative management: host institutions now take the lead in scholar selection and programme delivery, guided by Implementation Partner Agreements approved by UNESCO. This decentralized model enhances contextual responsiveness, fosters institutional ownership, and reinforces OWSD’s commitment to South–South collaboration.

In 2025 OWSD has begun a new partnership with Mbarere University in Uganda. 

The involvement of key partners such as the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network (GAIN), and the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative (DAFI) undergraduate scholarship programme has been essential in identifying eligible candidates and aligning programmes with local legal and logistical frameworks.

In 2024, OWSD confirmed its partnership with Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) in Uganda, where a total of 20 scholarships have been offered for Master’s programmes in science, over the next two years. This marks the beginning of a broader expansion that will allow WISDOM to reach more displaced women scientists—offering them not just scholarships, but real, structured opportunities to reclaim and grow their careers.