2025 UNESCO OWSD Women In Science Displacement Outreach Master’s Program (OWSD WISDOM)

Published: 18 Jul 2024

For the past 30 years OWSD has been supporting women in science across countries such as Sudan, Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Afghanistan with programmes such as PhD Fellowships, to name one example.

OWSD knows well that many women who are refugees or displaced have fallen through the cracks. Because of this, this new initiative has the objective of 'Leaving No One Behind' (LNOB), the central, transformative promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

With generous financial support from Sida, and assistance from UNHCR, OWSD is launching a new Masters Scholarship Programme to support displaced and refugee women wishing to pursue a Masters of Science in STEM fields in countries such as Jordan. The new OWSD Masters Scholarship scheme will initially provide around 25 comprehensive scholarship packages to women for up to 24 months’ study. The project will also focus on capacity building, working with selected institutes on gender-sensitive policies and raising awareness around protection needs.

The Women in Science Displacement Outreach Master's Program (OWSD WISDOM) is a pilot project that aims to provide scholarships to displaced women to pursue master's degree programmes at high-quality universities in the Global South, in partnership with the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR.

UNESCO/OWSD WISDOM Master's Scholarship

Application Deadline	August 8, 2024
Country to study	Turkey
School to study	Istanbul Aydin University
Type	Masters
Sponsor	UNESCO
Gender	Men and Women

Benefits of UNESCO/OWSD WISDOM Master's Scholarship

The main objectives of the OWSD WISDOM pilot project are:

1. Promoting equitable and sustainable inclusion in national education systems for women who are refugees or asylum seekers with a human rights-based approach in mind.
2. Foster safe enabling environments that support learning by working with host institutes on protection and gender transformative awareness raising.
3. Enable displaced women to use their education toward sustainable futures.

In line with GRF guidelines, since its early stages this project has been developed by consulting with individuals with lived experience of displacement.  The project proposed support towards refugees and affected communities and puts gender at its core.

The Scholarship covers:

• M.Sc. tuition fees
• Living allowance
• Personal allowance
• Residence/visa documentation
• Medical insurance
• Travel
• Capacity building programme for the selected institutes
• Network Building
• Termination allowance

Requirements for UNESCO/OWSD WISDOM Master's Scholarship

To be eligible, selected candidates must

• Hold refugee or asylum seeker official status,
• Be under 35 years of age,
• Hold a bachelor's degree, and be a national of an eligible country.

Selection Process

The selection process will involve targeted outreach to DAFI (Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative) scholarship graduates and other displaced women in target countries. Support will be provided by OWSD National Chapters and national UNHCR offices, while shortlisting and review of candidates will be undertaken by a Selection Committee established by OWSD, UNHCR, and the selected host institute. More information will follow in the Call for Applications in early 2024.

With this new programme OWSD commits to promoting equitable and sustainable inclusion of displaced women scientists in national education systems.

Application Deadline

August 8, 2024

How to Apply

Interested and qualified? Go to UNESCO on owsdapp.aydin.edu.tr to apply