Out of over 1,000 applications received for the 2016-2017 academic year, 49 new Faculty for the Future Fellowships have been awarded and another 169 renewed, showing the commitment of the Schlumberger Foundation to its existing grantees and their research. The fellowship recipients are women scientists and engineers from emerging and developing countries engaged in post-graduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) research. 

The research of this year’s cohort of new Fellows is diverse, with the top five disciplines being chemistry, biological sciences, health sciences, computer sciences and agriculture, which reflects the regional challenges they encounter, showing the determination of the awardees to improve conditions in their native regions through science.

The fellowships represent the Schlumberger Foundation’s long term investment in a community of highly qualified and recognized leaders who help to narrow the gender gap in STEM disciplines by inspiring more women to study sciences. 

Fellowships are awarded based on the applicant’s academic ability, leadership qualities, and engagement in outreach activities towards underserved communities with STEM as a development instrument in their home countries. Fellowship recipients have all achieved academic excellence throughout their studies, often despite considerable challenges and barriers to education.

About Faculty for the Future

The program’s long-term goal is to generate conditions that result in more women pursuing scientific careers by lowering the barriers women face when entering STEM disciplines, thus reducing the gender gap.

Faculty for the Future Fellows are expected to return to their home countries after completion of their studies to contribute to economic, social and technological advancement by strengthening the STEM teaching and research faculties of their home institutions, and to also pursue positions in the public sector where their newly acquired technical and scientific skills can help provide evidence-based support for STEM policy making. In so doing, they become powerful role models and help to inspire other girls and women to pursue scientific careers.

Since its launch in 2004, 600 women from 78 developing and emerging countries have received Faculty for the Future fellowships to pursue PhD and Post-Doctorate study in STEM in 243 renowned universities worldwide. The program also helps build a community for the Fellows through Forums, both online and in person. 

About the Schlumberger Foundation

The Schlumberger Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports science and technology education. Recognizing the link between science, technology, and socio-economic development, as well as the key role of education in realizing individual potential, the Schlumberger Foundation flagship program is Faculty for the Future.