TWAS-Samira Omar Innovation for Sustainability Award 2026

The World Academy of Science (TWAS) is now accepting applications for the Samira Omar Innovation for Sustainability Award 2026. This prestigious award recognizes significant contributions to the environment and biodiversity by scientists from Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

🏆 About the Award

This annual award is named after TWAS Fellow Samira Omar and honors scientists who have made a significant impact in the following areas:

• Clean and renewable energy
• Green chemistry
• Sustainable agriculture and agrobiodiversity
• Plastic: degradation, pollution, and microplastics
• Water purification and sanitation
• Climate change: environmental effects, methane contribution, carbon capture
• Transportation technologies: efficiency for smart cities
• Waste management
• Biodiversity: the sixth mass extinction, ecosystem services, habitat recovery and restoration
• Ecological economics and planetary health

💰 Benefits

• A monetary award of $4,000, generously provided by Professor Samira Omar.

✅ Eligibility Criteria

1. The award is open to women scientists who are nationals of a Least Developed Country (LDC) and have been living and working in an LDC for the last two years prior to their nomination.
2. Self-nominations and nominations from jury members will not be considered.
3. Fellows of TWAS and individuals who have previously won a TWAS-named award are not eligible.
4. A nominee cannot be nominated for more than one "Fellows of TWAS Awards" in a given year.

📋 Application Process

A nomination is considered complete only if it includes the following:

• Nominator contact details.
• Nominee contact details (self-nominations are not accepted) and general information on the nominee.
• Authorization from the nominee to process personal data for the purposes of the nomination. This must be submitted through the online platform.
• Suggested citation (15-20 words highlighting the nominee's scientific achievements).
• Supporting statement detailing the nominee’s contributions and their significance in the scientific context (max 10,000 characters).
• Forward-looking project outlining the nominee's planned future activities (max 10,000 characters).
• Detailed account of any time spent abroad by the nominee in the past two years.
• Information about the nominee's PhD (subject area, year, and awarding institution).
• Brief information on membership in academies and societies.
• Brief information on awards and honors received.
• List of the 10 most significant publications in an internationally acceptable format.
• The nominee's brief CV.
• The nominee's complete list of publications, uploaded separately.
• The nominee's h-index in Google Scholar and the associated number of citations.

📅 Application Deadline

30 June 2026

🔗 How to Apply

• View more details about the TWAS-Samira Omar Innovation for Sustainability Award.
• Submit your application through the official online platform.

For more information, visit the official World Academy of Science (TWAS) website.

• A monetary award of $4,000