The OWSD newsletter brings you the latest news and announcements from the Secretariat and from our international network. In this edition, we celebrate the 2021 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award winners, meet a PhD Fellow from Yemen studying computer science in Malaysia, learn about the upcoming Executive Board elections, and more.
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2021 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award winners

2021 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award winners announced


In February, five outstanding early career women scientists from the developing world were recognized for their accomplishments in the physical sciences. María Eugenia Cabrera Catalán (Guatemala), Khongorzul Dorjgotov (Mongolia), Ghada Dushaq (Palestine), Imalka Munaweera (Sri Lanka), and Marian Asantewah Nkansah (Ghana) received their awards during a special online ceremony as part of the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS).

PhD Fellowship

Call for Applications opened for 2021 OWSD PhD Fellowships



Applications for the fellowship are invited from women scientists from developing countries who wish to pursue a PhD in STEM subjects; deadline April 15.

Executive Board

Elections approaching for OWSD Executive Board



WSD members can now apply for the 2021-2025 OWSD Executive Board, including the positions of President, four regional Vice-Presidents, and four Regional Members.

Winning this award is one of the biggest achievements of my life. Professionally, the prize makes me feel like I am an important person in the world as far as my research is concerned; and I am so excited and motivated to conduct impactful research which creates solutions to the burning issues in the world.

Imalka Munaweera, 2021 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awardee

Meet the OWSD Fellows:


Sumaia Mohammed

We checked in with Sumaia Mohammed, a 2016 fellow from Yemen who is currently completing a full-time PhD fellowship at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, where she is developing algorithms to extract useful information from user reviews to make better targeted recommendations.

IDWGS 2021

More than 200 people participated in OWSD's #IAdmire social media campaign to celebrate the United Nations International Day of Women and Girls in Science, February 11. Search #IAdmire on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to see all of the amazing women in science who have inspired our members and other women scientists.

OWSD Applauds

Dina Machuve

@DinaMachuve · Jan 13

Building ML Dataset is labor intensive and expensive. The support from @AI4Dev @DeepIndaba @OwsdSecretariat has enabled my team to collect 6400 fecal images for Poultry Diseases Diagnostics. We are very proud of the milestone! k4all.org/project/ml-pou… pic.twitter.com/8Y1iTBIqhY

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In this corner we highlight some of the most exciting recent achievements of our fellows, alumnae, and awardees. Way to go, ladies!


OWSD Around the World

Here are a few recent highlights from our network of 36 active National Chapters.

Two new National Chapters
launched in Ecuador and Morocco


  • The OWSD Ecuador National Chapter was established in February 2021 with 43 members; it is the 6th National Chapter in Latin America and the Caribbean.
  • The OWSD Morocco National Chapter was established in March 2021 with 30 members; it is the 6th National Chapter in the Arab region and the 36th worldwide.

Seven OWSD National Chapters together with other members from Southern Africa joined together for an online celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, February 11.

The OWSD Indonesia National Chapter hosted a Global Women's Breakfast webinar on the topic of 'Contributions of Natural Materials Chemistry to Health and Functional Foods', February 9.

The OWSD Rwanda National Chapter in collaboration with the Rwanda National Council for Science and Technology, Rwanda Association for Women in Science and Engineering, Next Einstein Forum, and Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion presented four awards for Rwandan women and girls live on Rwandan national TV, in celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

OWSD Guatemala logo

The OWSD Guatemala National Chapter, in cooperation with the Guatemalan Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences, held a nationwide contest for drawings and videos responding to the theme of 'What is a Guatemalan scientist like?,' in celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

OWSD Bangladesh National Chapter members celebrated the International Day of Women and Girls in Science with rallies at Bangladesh University of Health Sciences and the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, as well as with two webinars, an essay writing competition for women university students, and a series of seminars with four different universities.

OWSD Guatemala logo

The OWSD Palestine National Chapter's committee for community outreach organized an interactive Zoom meeting in March where Dr. Sherin Hijazi, an expert in web security, shared her career and personal journey with students of different ages.


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