About the Grant
The TWAS–M.S. Swaminathan Achievement Grant in Food Science honors the legacy of Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, a Founding Fellow of TWAS, by awarding grants to individuals to support their contributions to advancing food research. The grant aims to inspire efforts towards a just and sustainable world by encouraging the pursuit of scientific excellence in food science, identifying and supporting the best scientists, and strengthening and promoting scientific research in this field.
One grant is awarded annually. It includes a USD 25,000 monetary award, a token of appreciation for the selected recipient, as well as participation in the annual ceremony in India.
Applicants must use the TWAS online platform to submit complete information about their scientific achievements, major accomplishments, and other supporting documents—along with a brief, forward‑looking project outlining their planned future activities to enhance food science research in developing countries. The forward-looking project should describe how the proposed activities contribute to the academic theme and may include outreach or science-communication initiatives, as well as anticipated collaborations or engagement with institutions in developing countries, among others. Applicants may also upload a supporting statement from an endorser.
Link to submit applications
Applications can only be submitted electronically through the online platform: https://onlineforms.twas.org/apply/301
A complete list of information and material to include through the online forms is below.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible candidates must:
- Be individual scientists or professionals under the age of 50
- Be nationals of a developing country: https://twas.org/developing-countries-south
- Have lived and worked in a developing country for at least the past five years
- Have demonstrated excellence and impact in one or more of the following areas:
- Food research, nutrition security
- Food systems (including crop agriculture, fisheries, livestock, aquaculture, and other production systems)
- Climate resilience
Note: Individuals who have previously received another prestigious international grant with a monetary value equivalent to or greater than TWAS-M.S. Swaminathan Achievement Grant in Food Science are not eligible.
Applications from women scientists and early- to mid-career professionals are especially encouraged.
The online form is considered complete only if includes all of the following information and material:
- Contact details and general information on the candidate, including the country where the individual has been working and living in the past five years
- Brief suggested citation (no more than 20 words) highlighting the candidate's outstanding scientific achievement. An example of suitable citation is provided in the relevant 'helptext' on the online platform
- Supporting statement of about 200 words summarizing the scientific achievements of the candidate
- 5–6-page narrative write-up of the candidate highlighting their major scientific achievements
- Information on PhD (degree, year, awarding institution)
- Information on any time spent abroad in the past five years
- The candidate's brief CV
- A list of no more than 20 of the candidate’s most significant publications
- The candidate's complete list of publications is also to be uploaded, separately, onto the online platform
- Information on awards, honours and recognition received by the candidate
- Google Scholar h-index and number of citations, with a link to ORCID record
- Confirmation that the candidate hasn't received other prestigious international grants with a monetary value equivalent to or greater than that of the TWAS–M.S. Swaminathan Achievement Grant in Food Science
- Supporting statement from an endorser (not compulsory but recommended). Full contact details of the endorser (including email, telephone number, position in the institute he/she works for, name of Institution, postal address)
- Privacy authorization by the endorser to process their personal data for the application
PLEASE CHECK IF ENTERED DATA ARE VALID
In particular:
1) While filling in the form, pay attention to the requirements for each field, such as maximum number of characters, date format, and file type. (For example, Word files will not be uploaded, only pdf files are allowed).
2) Run a 'Check' using the button of the form menu to verify that mandatory fields have been filled in and the data you entered are accepted. This also saves your form. Every time you run a check, you are taken to the last section of the form named "Submit". Use the form menu to navigate to the previous sections.
3) After you run a check, fields with NOT ACCEPTED OR MISSING DATA will be highlighted in RED.
Please note that once you have duly modified the content of one or more fields, the red highlight will not disappear until you run again a check.
About Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health with vaccines and other life-saving tools and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to significantly improve education so that all young people have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman and Co-chair Bill Gates.