LOreal, UNESCO reveals winners of Science young talents awards

The 20 scientists honored are working in a variety of research fields and are dedicated to improving the lives of millions of people in Africa and around the world.

LOreal, UNESCO reveals winners of Science young talents awards

The winners of the 13th edition of the For Women in Science Young Talents Awards for Sub-Saharan Africa have been announced by the L’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO.

Every year, 20 African female researchers are recognised for the quality of their scientific work. Through their careers and research topics, these 15 doctoral students and 5 post-doctoral students represent the diversity and potential of science on the continent. They are a source of optimism for our planet’s future.

Bezalem Eshetu Yirdaw, a PhD student in the Department of Statistics at Unisa’s College of Science, Engineering, and Technology (CSET), was named one of the top 20 scientists to receive the 2022 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Sub-Saharan Africa Young Talents Award on December 1, 2022.

Each year, nearly 250 endowments are provided by the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science national and regional Young Talents programmes in more than 110 countries. These awards provide young talents with targeted assistance in furthering their careers.

The top 20 winners were selected for their scientific excellence among 425 applications received and were celebrated and honoured on 1 December 2022 at the awards ceremony in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Bezalem is currently working on her PhD research project entitled “Modelling child morbidity using a multi-level Bayesian network”. Her research project is supervised Professor Legesse Kassa Debusho from the department of Statistics at CSET.

This programme For Women in Science Young Talents Awards is dedicated to assisting female scientists in their academic journeys, increasing their visibility, and advancing their careers.

The 20 scientists honoured are working in a variety of research fields and are dedicated to improving the lives of millions of people in Africa and around the world. Securing and increasing agricultural harvests to combat poverty and hunger, halting the spread of diseases like malaria, improving the management and conservation of vital natural resources, enhancing their nations’ safety in the face of natural disasters, and developing diverse biopolymers for industry are among their priorities.

These young women are a critical asset to the development of the continent due to their dedication and scientific excellence.