VIB-IPBO announces recipients for the Open Doors Fellowship Program 2022-2024 Cohort
April 29, 2022
Following a thorough selection process for applicants of the Open Doors Fellowship Program (ODFP) focused on women researchers in Africa, the UGent-VIB International Plant Biotechnology Outreach (VIB-IPBO), has announced the selection of three fellows that will undergo a 2-year program.
ODFP or Open Doors is a dynamic leadership fellowship aimed at addressing the “leaky pipeline” situation of fewer women advancing to PhD and leadership levels in science and research. With almost the same number of men and women studying scientific subjects at bachelor’s and master’s levels, the number of women advancing to PhD and leadership levels often decreases. This is due to many women dropping out as a result of family responsibilities among other factors, thus thwarting efforts to achieve diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The three fellows, Tognisse Anique Godjo from the University of Abomey Calavi; Madina Diancoumba from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and Ajayi Adeola Olaitan from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), were selected from Benin, Mali/Senegal, and Nigeria. They will be undergoing 24 months of support with face-to-face and online training courses from the VIB training portfolio, which will contribute to increasing their scientific visibility. They will go through an initial three-month stay at a Belgian laboratory to build networks with researchers for collaboration in future research projects. They will further receive support to attend an international conference during their fellowship, fees for publication in open access in a peer-reviewed journal and sponsorship for the tuition fees of an AWARD Leadership course. Through this program, the fellows will increase their scientific, communication and leadership skills.
The Open Doors Fellowship Program provides support to early to mid-career women researchers working at research and academic institutions in Africa, interested in receiving the necessary scientific and leadership skills to help advance their careers in Science.
In a statement issued by Laura Cortada-Gonzalez, Senior Scientific Officer at VIB-IPBO, “ODFP seeks to increase the percentage of African women in senior and leadership positions in scientific academic and research institutions to help build more gender-inclusive and diverse research and academic institutions for current and future generations.”
According to Cortada-Gonzalez, during the second phase of the program, fellows will conduct activities locally through ‘science on the road’ events and promote women’s role in science and academia within their communities.
“We are starting small, but over the next three years, VIB-IPBO will grow the number gradually as we partner with more African organizations and Belgian institutions, and contribute towards the empowerment of many more women scientists in Africa. We also expect that this program will give more visibility to the advanced research conducted in Africa, especially related to fighting climate change and agriculture. The program will strengthen and leverage new scientific collaboration between African and Belgian research and academic institutions” says Cortada-Gonzalez.
The ODFP is a project of the VIB-IPBO with funds from the Marc and Nora Van Montagu Fund, in collaboration with the UGent Africa Platform, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the Belgian Women in Science (BeWise) and the Association of African Women in Science and Engineering (AAWSE)
VIB-IPBO For more information, visit the website: https://ipbo.vib-ugent.be/en/open-doors-fellowship-program; Contact email: ipbo@vib-ugent.be UGent- VIB International Plant Biotechnology Outreach (VIB-IPBO) The UGent-VIB International Plant Biotechnology Outreach (VIB-IPBO) is an outreach division of the Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), a world-leading life sciences research institute based in Flanders (Belgium), and Ghent University (UGent). Over the last twenty years, the VIB-IPBO’s vision is to ‘contribute to the participatory engagement of agricultural communities and local actors in Least Development Economies to new sustainable agricultural systems, to enable a healthy planet with a sound social, cultural, economic and environmental development. Contributed by Timilehin Osunde
The Open Doors Fellowship Program provides support to early to mid-career women researchers working at research and academic institutions in Africa, interested in receiving the necessary scientific and leadership skills to help advance their careers in Science.
In a statement issued by Laura Cortada-Gonzalez, Senior Scientific Officer at VIB-IPBO, “ODFP seeks to increase the percentage of African women in senior and leadership positions in scientific academic and research institutions to help build more gender-inclusive and diverse research and academic institutions for current and future generations.”
According to Cortada-Gonzalez, during the second phase of the program, fellows will conduct activities locally through ‘science on the road’ events and promote women’s role in science and academia within their communities.
“We are starting small, but over the next three years, VIB-IPBO will grow the number gradually as we partner with more African organizations and Belgian institutions, and contribute towards the empowerment of many more women scientists in Africa. We also expect that this program will give more visibility to the advanced research conducted in Africa, especially related to fighting climate change and agriculture. The program will strengthen and leverage new scientific collaboration between African and Belgian research and academic institutions” says Cortada-Gonzalez.
The ODFP is a project of the VIB-IPBO with funds from the Marc and Nora Van Montagu Fund, in collaboration with the UGent Africa Platform, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the Belgian Women in Science (BeWise) and the Association of African Women in Science and Engineering (AAWSE)
VIB-IPBO For more information, visit the website: https://ipbo.vib-ugent.be/en/open-doors-fellowship-program; Contact email: ipbo@vib-ugent.be UGent- VIB International Plant Biotechnology Outreach (VIB-IPBO) The UGent-VIB International Plant Biotechnology Outreach (VIB-IPBO) is an outreach division of the Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), a world-leading life sciences research institute based in Flanders (Belgium), and Ghent University (UGent). Over the last twenty years, the VIB-IPBO’s vision is to ‘contribute to the participatory engagement of agricultural communities and local actors in Least Development Economies to new sustainable agricultural systems, to enable a healthy planet with a sound social, cultural, economic and environmental development. Contributed by Timilehin Osunde
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