What We Offer
Unlike any other fellowship, AWARD delivers a well-tested, coordinated career development package built on four cornerstones: Establishing Mentoring Partnerships, Building Science Skills, Developing Leadership Capacity, and Tracking Learning, Monitoring, and Evaluation.
AWARD Fellows remain in their place of employment or study, while benefiting from the following professional opportunities.
Establishing Mentoring Partnerships
AWARD pairs each fellow with a mentor—a senior professional, carefully chosen to match the fellow’s area of expertise and career goals. In the second year of the fellowship, post-master’s and post-doctoral fellows pass on their knowledge by mentoring junior women scientists, thereby providing an opportunity to practice leadership skills.
Building Science Skills
In addition to building science skills through their mentoring partnerships, all fellows are encouraged to attend a science conference to present their research and to network with experts in their respective fields. AWARD Fellows also receive support to join a professional association of their choice, and training on how to access electronic science libraries. In addition, AWARD Fellows are invited to register on the CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program’s global database of more than 9,000 women scientists and professionals to receive news about jobs, scholarships, and funding.
Post-master’s and post-doctoral fellows may attend one of two science workshops organized by AWARD: the Research Proposal Writing Course or the Science Writing, Communication, and Presentation Skills Course. They also have the option of competing for one of some 20 AWARD-sponsored research attachments hosted at world-class facilities, including CGIAR centers, selected universities, and institutions.
Developing Leadership Capacity
AWARD is explicitly designed to help African women in agricultural science to increase their visibility and to empower them to serve as champions of rural women. Through AWARD’s tailored leadership courses, fellows learn to navigate organizational gender issues, leverage team talents, manage conflict, and use influence appropriately.
AWARD Fellows with post-bachelor’s degrees attend AWARD’s Leadership Skills Course; those with post-master’s or post-doctoral degrees attend the CGIAR's Women’s Leadership and Management Course. Those who have attended the latter have the opportunity to attend CGIAR’s Enhancing Negotiation Skills for Women Course.
Fellows also practice their leadership skills through role-modeling events designed to inspire girls and young women to consider careers in agricultural science.
Tracking Learning, Monitoring, and Evaluation
AWARD implements an innovative monitoring and evaluation (M&E) process, which is an integral part of its program. AWARD tracks changes in its participants: their career advancements, scientific outputs, influence within research institutions, and actions that respond effectively to smallholder priorities. All fellows and mentors are expected to collect and interpret data about their progress, and identify enabling and hindering factors.
For specific details on AWARD Fellowship packages please see below.
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Post-bachelor's
Post-master's
Post-doctoral
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- five-day mentoring orientation workshop for each fellow and her chosen mentor to set three achievable career goals;
- monthly mentoring meetings with a designated mentor (a senior scientist or professional) to develop scientific skills and networks;
- participation in a professional women’s leadership course;
- membership in a professional association of the fellow’s choice; and
- access to knowledge sharing and networking via newsletters from the CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program and AWARD.
Post-bachelor’s: Year 2
- participation in one science conference held in the fellow’s sub-region, provided her paper/poster is accepted for presentation by the organizers;
- support for a role-modeling event of the fellow’s choice, e.g. institutional seminar, presentation to rural women or secondary school students, etc.;
- continued membership in professional association of fellow’s choice; and
- continued access to knowledge sharing and networking.
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- five-day mentoring orientation workshop for each fellow and her chosen mentor to set three achievable career goals;
- monthly mentoring meetings with a designated mentor (a senior scientist or professional ) to develop scientific skills and networks;
- participation in the renowned CGIAR Women’s Leadership and Management Course;
- a professional proposal writing/fund raising or science writing/presentation skills course;
- membership in a professional association of the fellow’s choice;
- assistance with access to an electronic science library; and
- access to knowledge sharing and networking via participation in the CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program’s Global Database of Women Scientists and Professionals, as well as the AWARD Alert newsletter.
Post-master’s: Year 2
- opportunity to compete for a four-to-nine month research placement at a leading agricultural research institution;
- participation in one science conference held in the fellow’s sub-region, provided her paper/poster is accepted for presentation by the organizers;
- support for a role-modeling event of the fellow’s choice, e.g. institutional seminar, presentation to rural women or secondary school students, etc.;
- mentoring of a junior woman scientist of the fellow’s choice;
- continued access to an electronic science library.
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- five-day mentoring orientation workshop for each fellow and her chosen mentor to set three achievable career goals;
- monthly mentoring meetings with a designated mentor (a senior scientist or professional ) to develop scientific skills and networks;
- participation in the renowned CGIAR Women’s Leadership and Management Course;
- a professional proposal writing/fund raising or science writing/presentation skills course;
- membership in a professional association of the fellow’s choice;
- assistance with access to an electronic science library; and
- access to knowledge sharing and networking via participation in the CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program’s Global Database of Women Scientists and Professionals, as well as the AWARD Alert newsletter.
Post-doctoral: Year 2
- opportunity to compete for a four-to-nine month research placement at a leading agricultural research institution;
- participation in one science conference held in the fellow’s sub-region, provided her paper/poster is accepted for presentation by the organizers;
- support for a role-modeling event of the fellow’s choice, e.g. institutional seminar, presentation to rural women or secondary school students, etc.;
- mentoring of a junior woman scientist of the fellow’s choice;
- continued access to an electronic science library;
- continued membership in professional association of fellow’s choice; and
- continued access to knowledge sharing and networking.
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What is not offered:
- funding to support the fellow’s academic studies; and
- research grants. (However, fellows will be informed about grant opportunities through newsletters.)