Science By Women Programme (2nd Edition)

Deadline: 20 July 2016

The Women for Africa Foundation is currently inviting applications for its 2nd Edition of “Science By Women” programme with an aim to promote African women’s leadership in scientific research and technology transfer and to foster the capacity of the research centres in their home countries. The main goal is to enable African women researchers and scientists to tackle the great challenges faced by Africa through research in health, agriculture and food security, water, energy and climate change, as well as mathematics and economic science.

The Science by Women programme will fund a total of seven six-month visiting senior research fellowships for seven experienced African women researchers in any of the following Spanish and international research centres of excellence.

Each of the seven centres will host 1 senior women researcher for a six-month fellowship. Candidates will receive training and integration in a dynamic, multidisciplinary and highly competitive working team, where they will be able to develop their research projects and acquire complementary skills, empowering them to transfer their research results into tangible economic and social benefits.

Research Centers

Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO): ultimate goal is to foster translation of scientific breakthroughs into novel and more effective ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.
Spanish National Biotechnology Centre (CNB): focuses on the application of contemporary biotechnology to major societal challenges in health, environment and agriculture.
Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO): specialized in the science and technology of harnessing light as a pervasive and universal tool that benefit health, energy, information as well as safety, security and environment
Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII): a prestigious biomedical research institute focused on communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Institute of Mathematical Sciences (ICMAT): Its goal is to generate knowledge in all the areas of mathematics, particularly in Algebraic Geometry and Mathematical Physics, Differential Geometry, Geometric Mechanics, Mathematical Analysis, Differential Equations and Applications, Number Theory, Group theory, Statistics, Probability, Operations Research and Mathematics of Quantum Information.
Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (GSE): an institution for scientific cooperation in research and graduate education in economics and the social sciences, and draws on the strengths and noteworthy reputations of its four academic units.
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG): the CRG is an international biomedical research institute of excellence whose mission is to discover and advance knowledge for the benefit of society, public health and economic prosperity.

Research Areas

The preferred areas of research include:

Health
Energy, Water and Climate Change
Agriculture and Food Safety
Mathematics
Economic Science

Duration and Benefits

The duration of the research stays will be six continuous months.
Successful candidates will have access to the following benefits:
- Flight from their centre of origin to the host institution and back
- Living allowance of 2.400 Euros per month to cover accommodation, personal expense and health and occupational accident insurance coverage.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicant must be a woman and have:

Nationality of an African country.
PhD with at least 3 years of post-doctoral professional experience
Contractual relationship with a university or a public or private non-profit organization based in Africa dedicated to significant scientific research in the areas indicated
Excellent academic record and proven track of relevant research experience
Solid working knowledge of English
Proven experience leading a research group

How to Apply

Only applications submitted in English via the ‘Science by Women’ website will be accepted.
They must include the following documents:
- Letter of Interest (max. 1 page)
- Full curriculum vitae
- Fully filled form
- Brief but concise description of the project to be developed in the Spanish host centre (max. 2 pages)
- A letter stating the prospective host group’s interest to support the project proposed by the candidate

Eligible Countries:

Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Cote d’Ivorie, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.