Deadline: June 30, 2026
Applications are open for the TWAS-Samira Omar Innovation for Sustainability Award 2026. This annual award, named after the TWAS Fellow Samira Omar, recognizes the significant impact on the environment and biodiversity of scientists from least developed countries.
Our planet, and therefore our existence, faces several challenges: world population, food security, climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity/poor sanitation, energy resources. Sustainability involves considering the relationship between the finite resources of the planet and the way of life adopted by humans: in what way can our existence be maintained and at what level?
Sustainability is at the forefront of many discussions at the international scene. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals released by the UN in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda underlie that we must become aware of the fact that we are compromising the future of generations to come. The SDGs may well represent the best attempt at addressing sustainability issues at a global scale.
The “Innovation for Sustainability” Award will reward scientists for their contribution in an area, albeit multidisciplinary, directly relevant to the science of sustainability.
Award
- A monetary award of $4,000 is generously provided by Professor Omar.
Eligibility
- The 2026 award will be awarded to a woman scientist national of a Least Developing Country (LDC), living and working in a LDC during the last two years immediately prior to his/her nomination, based on scientific achievements in any of the thematic areas below:
- 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
- Self nominations and nominations from jury members will not be considered.
- Fellows of TWAS are not eligible. Individuals who have previously won a TWAS-named Award are not eligible to be nominated for Awards named after a different TWAS Fellow.
- The same nominee cannot be nominated for more than one ‘Fellows of TWAS Awards’ in a given year. The secretariat retains the right to bring to the attention of the relevant nominators that the nomination may be suitable for another award, and the final decision whether or not to shift the nomination will be taken by the nominators themselves.
Nomination
A nomination is considered complete only if includes all of the following information/material:
- Nominator contact details;
- Nominee contact details (self nominations are not accepted) and general information on the nominee;
- Authorization from the nominee (i.e. the candidate) to process personal data for the purposes of the nomination, in conformity to Art. 13 of the Italian Legislative Decree 196/2003. This authorization can only be submitted through the online platform. The privacy authorization form is available for download in the section ‘nominee’s personal data’. The form must be filled in and signed by the candidate and then uploaded onto the on-line platform;
- Suggested citation (15-20 words highlighting the nominee’s scientific achievements);
- Supporting statement regarding the nominee’s contribution. Supporting statements should explain in detail the work performed by the candidate and its significance in the relevant scientific context. Clear reference should be made to the scientific impact of the nominee’s work. Vague supporting statements will not be considered and will negatively affect the evaluation (max 10,000 characters);
- Forward-looking project outlining the candidate planned future activities (max 10,000 characters);
- Clear and detailed account of any time spent abroad by the nominee in the past two years;
- PhD: information on subject area, year and awarding institution;
- Brief information on membership in academies and societies;
- Brief information on awards and honours received;
- List of 10 most significant publications listed in an internationally acceptable format;
- The nominee’s brief CV;
- The nominee’s complete list of publications are also to be uploaded, separately, onto the online platform;
- The nominee’s h-index in Google Scholar, and the associated number of citations.
For more information, visit TWAS-Samira Omar Innovation for Sustainability Award.
