The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and TWAS are partnering again to launch a new initiative promoting skill-building among young researchers from the 21 IsDB Least Developed Member Countries.^**

Their joint Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme, now open, offers 3-to-6-month fellowships at centres of excellence in developing countries. The application deadline is 8 June 2020, with an age limit of 45 and preferably 5 years of postdoctoral experience in the chosen field.

The fellowships can be used to develop projects in a wide range of fields, from agriculture to education for sustainable development, including climate change, waste management, plastic pollution, and others. All these topics are in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

IsDB and TWAS started their collaboration in 2017 in several areas tied to sustainable development and scientific progress. Under an agreement signed in Trieste, Italy, by His Excellency Dr. Bandar Hajjar, president of the IsDB Group, and TWAS Executive Director Romain Murenzi, the two bodies launched important initiatives. Among them are science diplomacy workshops, the development of a catalogue of the most accomplished scientists in the IsDB member countries, and fellowships and grants promoting studies on sustainability challenges in developing countries.

The Islamic Development Bank, founded in 1974, works to foster the economic development and social progress of member countries and Muslim communities in accordance with the principles of Islamic Law.

TWAS, founded in 1983 by scientists from the developing world under the leadership of Abdus Salam, the Pakistani physicist and Nobel laureate, is a renowned voice promoting science and technology in the Global South, with the mission of building skills and creating scientific networks to address global challenges.

More information and online forms (Apply now) on the IsDB-TWAS Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme can be found here.

** Eligible countries are: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea‐Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Uganda and Yemen.