The official announcement will take place at the Academy's 11th General Conference and 20th General Meeting in Durban, South Africa, on 19 October. The new affiliates will have an opportunity to discuss their research at the conference. 

This marks the third year the Academy has recognized promising young researchers with the scheme, which is part of a larger effort to increase the presence of younger scientists in the Academy. 

TWAS initiated its affiliate membership category for young scientists in 2007. Each year, the five TWAS Regional Offices each select up to five scientists under the age of 40 to be Young Affiliates for a period of five years. During their tenure, Affiliates are invited to participate in TWAS general meetings and conferences. To be eligible, scientists must be living and working in a developing country and have an excellent track record of at least 10 international publications. 

In addition to its geographic diversity, the new group represents a broad range of research interests. For example: Alexis Kalergis, from Chile, conducts research on molecular genetics; Assad Khalid, from Sudan, does biomedical and medicinal plant research; Ho Hai Phung, is a mathematician specializing in quantum groups; Halka Vidanalage Siriwardana, from Sri Lanka, works on medical parasitology; and Bernard Slippers, from South Africa, focuses on tree health biotechnology. 

The Academy's Regional Offices are located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Beijing, China; Alexandria, Egypt; Bangalore, India; and Nairobi, Kenya.