By creating links between food research and industry, she hopes to enhance food security both in Ghana and in Africa as a whole.

What fascinated me is that only 5% of microorganisms are harmful, and the rest are beneficiary.

“Am very proud to say that I am encouraging other Cameroonian female scientists to apply for the OWSD fellowship programme and some of them have obtained the grant."

I desire to see my country, Nigeria, become a leading destination for impactful clinical studies.

I intend to disperse my achieved knowledge as one of the leading researchers in my country in the domain of microbial biotechnology, to support sustainable and prosperous agriculture.

" I can boldly declare that OWSD rewarded my brilliance thus giving me recognition and confidence in my professional arena and placed me in national and international scientific communities.”

Winning this award opened many doors for me. It has led to success in acquiring local funding.

OWSD has provided tremendous support in shaping my career as a researcher, science ambassador, role model for women scientists and a "think high" human being.

Dr. Shammi's research will help to fill a crucial gap in the the global understanding of carbon dynamics and greenhouse gas emissions by providing data on one of the world’s largest river systems.

When I got my OWSD fellowship, it was an amazing feeling. Before getting the letter, my academic career was a dream, the letter made it possible.

I wanted to do applied physics, not theoretical physics… I really wanted to use all of the knowledge that I acquired at university to explain our environment.

I want to be in the boardroom. I want to be part of the policy mechanism. I want my influence to go higher than the classroom.

After my postdoc, I will return to Syria and work to achieve my big dream, which is to establish a research center.

I have to think of something that can help us, that we can use based on resources that we have. The lack of things is the biggest inspiration in my life. I want to help my country.

Due to the war in Yemen, I had stopped studying for two years. This opportunity gave me the chance to complete my postgraduate studies.

My dear girls in science: be strong, inquisitive, curious, assertive, resilient, and focused. Go for gold!

What has surprised me is the way technology is emerging and affecting the current state of research. We are encountering a fourth industrial revolution that entails advances in computing power, quantum computing and artificial intelligence, which has already been shown to alter the way we conduct research.

I owe ‘what’, ‘who’ and ‘where’ I am in my career and professional practice today to OWSD because without the PHD Fellowship, all my achievements today would have been nothing but bleak.