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.

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 found my niche, and I have not looked back.

I’ve been working on reptile and amphibian biodiversity for 10 years, and I know that there are still new species that need to be described.

When you are following your passion, people will always see what you are doing. People will see that you are doing something different, and they will help you.

“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."

OWSD fellowship represents a real empowering difference in my life and career

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.

In today’s scientific environment, in which most PhD scientists concentrate on a single specific discipline, I might shift toward a more systemic view to approach the challenge in infectious diseases.

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

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

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 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.

My position is that we should acknowledge what we are lacking of, so that we can keep working.

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

The OWSD award helped me not only to become the researcher I am today, but also to become a leader in research.

I really want to do something for my country. Being part of the Sudan national chapter has given me that chance.

Just give me the seed and I will continue.

OWSD's guidance and support allowed me to uncover hidden courage and realize aspects of myself that I never thought I possessed.

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.