Nairobi, Kenya– Today marks the opening of the 2025 TWAS Skill Building Workshop in Nairobi, Kenya. Organized by The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS), the event brings together 28 early-career scientists supported through the Seed Grant for New African Principal Investigators (SG-NAPI) Programme.
The workshop, a component of the SG-NAPI programme, supported by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space of Germany (BMFTR), aims to strengthen research capacity and foster collaboration across the continent.
Participants come from 16 countries: Benin, Cameroon, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Over three days, participants will engage in expert-led sessions on scientific writing, responsible AI, science communication, mentoring, and transdisciplinary research. The programme also includes networking activities designed to spark new partnerships and collaborative projects, and a keynote lecture by Kenyan TWAS Fellow Catherine Ngila, Executive Director of the African Foundation for Women and Youth in Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (ESTI).
The SG-NAPI grant is a TWAS programme, launched in 2021.
“This workshop is a unique opportunity to empower emerging researchers and build a stronger, more connected scientific community in Africa, and TWAS is proud to support African scientists in advancing research that addresses national and regional development challenges,” said TWAS President Quarraisha Abdool Karim.
The programme helps early-career researchers who have obtained their PhD abroad and have recently returned to Africa, or will shortly return to an academic position in their home country. Grants up to USD 67,000 are awarded to promising high-level research projects in agriculture, biology, chemistry, Earth sciences, engineering, information and computer technology, mathematics, medical sciences, and physics carried out in African countries that TWAS has identified as lagging in science and technology.
The awarded projects have a significant transformative potential and are carried out in one of the eligible countries. To date, the programme has launched four calls, and assigned 121 grants.
About TWAS
Founded in 1983 and officially inaugurated in 1985, TWAS supports sustainable prosperity through research, education, policy, and diplomacy. With its partners, it has graduated over 1,230 PhDs and supported more than 980 postdoctoral fellowships. The Academy also bestowed over 1,200 prizes, awarded over 2,800 research grants, trained over 750 individuals in science diplomacy, and supported over 1,400 exchange visits.
TWAS is based in Trieste, Italy, and is administered as a Programme Unit of UNESCO.
Note to editors:
The wokshop takes place at the Mövenpick Nairobi Hotel & Residences, Mkungu Close, Westlands, off Parklands Road, Nairobi, P.O Box 1853, 00606 Nairobi.
For media inquiries, interviews, or to attend the event in person, please contact:
Giovanni Ortolani, Public Information Officer, gortolani@twas.org (in Nairobi during the event)
Cristina Serra, Staff Writer, cserra@twas.org – mobile: +39 338 4305210