Eni Award 2025 Debut in Research: Young Talents from Africa Prize

Published: 24 Aug 2024

The purpose of the Debut in Research: Young Talents from Africa Prize is to help new generations of African researchers to emerge, offering them the opportunity to attend a PhD course in cooperation with prestigious Italian universities and research institutes and supporting their research and innovation on the various scientific topics promoted by Eni Award.

The Eni Award Debut in Research: Young Talents from Africa Prize constitutes one of the six sections of the Eni Award, composed by the Energy Frontiers, Advanced Environmental Solutions, Energy Transition and the Young Researcher of the Year Prizes, together with the Recognition at Innovation Eni.
The purpose of the Debut in Research: Young Talents from Africa Prize is to help new generations of African researchers to emerge, offering them the opportunity to attend a PhD course in cooperation with prestigious Italian universities and research institutes and supporting their research and innovation on the various scientific topics promoted by Eni Award.

The Eni Award has become an international benchmark for energy innovation. Its history began in 2008, when it was included in the Eni Technological Master Plan and replaced the Eni-Italgas Award with the aim of developing a better use of energy sources, promoting science and technology applied to the environment and supporting new generations of researchers.

The Award has evolved in the years: since 2017, it has opened up to Africa's scientific talent and has included research on sustainability and access to energy, in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The Eni Award also includes a section for the best PhD theses and prizes for technological innovations developed by Eni researchers and technicians.
Today, the Eni Award involves both leading scientific institutions around the world and Eni's Research Centres. 

The Eni Award has honoured highly prestigious figures: for example, Canadian scientist Barbara Sherwood Lollar was selected for her work on the application of stable isotope geochemistry to the protection of aquifer resources and of the environment. She became famous for her studies on the presence of water on Mars.
Italian researcher Roberto Danovaro was honoured for his studies on the marine environment and its role in the CO2 cycle. In December 2020, Danovaro was selected by Expertscape as the world's leading scientist in the oceans and seas category.
Since its establishment, the Eni Award has involved prominent scientists, among them John Craig Venter, known for his sequencing of the human genome, Gérard Férey, a researcher of nanoporous hybrid and inorganic solids (who died in 2017), and Emiliano Mutti, one of the fathers of modern Italian geology. Giorgio Parisi and Klaus Hasselmann, winners of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics, were both Eni Award (then Eni-Italgas Award) winners. Giorgio Parisi was previously a member of the Award's Scientific Committee.

Again in 2025, Eni Awards will provide: three main prizes for Advanced Environmental Solutions, Energy Transition and Energy Frontiers; awards for the Young Researcher of the Year and for Young Talents from Africa; “Eni for Innovation” Recognitions for our researchers. See the Official announcements! Transmission of applications will close on:

• November 15th, 2024 for Advanced Environmental Solutions, Energy Transition, Energy Frontiers and Young Researcher of the Year
• December 20th, 2024 for Young Talents from Africa
• January 31st, 2025 for “Eni for Innovation” recognitions 

ENI Young Talents from Africa Prize

Benefits of ENI Young Talents from Africa Prize

• Each of the four winners will be awarded with a customized plaque and a scholarship for the attendance of a 3 years PhD course to be conducted in Italy, in an Italian university or research institute with a solid reputation on the above-mentioned topics. Where authorized within the PhD course framework, it will be possible to carry out a research period outside Italy. It will be also allowed to propose a non-Italian thesis advisor, collaborating with the Italian university or research institute hosting the student.
• The Prizes will be assigned to the winning candidates, proclaimed by the Organizing Committee within June 2023.
• An Official Prize-Giving Ceremony will be held in Rome during the second semester of the year following the publication of the Official Announcement. Eni will grant hospitality for winners participating to the Ceremony plus a maximum of one accompanying person. Hospitality will include travel tickets to reach Rome, transfers, board and lodging expenses during the period of the Ceremony up to 2 overnight stays

Requirements for ENI Young Talents from Africa Prize

• Candidates must own a Master’s degree or any equivalent – according to the European system – academic qualification, granting access to a PhD course in an Italian university. The theses must have been defended at an African University during the same year of the annual Official Announcement, or in the precedent year.
• The Prize is awarded to students born in or after the year 1992.
• The Prize is reserved to students graduated in an African university and of African citizenship, coming from one of the 58 African countries listed in the World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision, compiled by the United Nations.
• The thesis and the curriculum vitae – which will prevail in the evaluation of the candidate – must be submitted together with a research proposal in connection with the Eni Award main topics and highlighting the potential benefits of the proposal in a country, in an African region or in the whole African continent.
  The main topics covered by the Eni Award are: action against water, air and land pollution, prevention of climate warming and pollution, rehabilitation and reuse of industrial sites; renewable energy and energy storage; innovative use of hydrocarbons and of the energy efficiency as a bridge to the decarbonisation of the energy system.
• The research proposal must explicit topics, methodologies and disciplinary areas suitable for the realization of the submitted project. The information provided by the candidate in the research proposal will be used in order to identify PhD courses as coherent as possible with it.

Selection Process

Candidatures will be evaluated and selected by the Scientific Commission as per the following criteria:

• Scientific value of the PhD research work;
• Quality of the Proposal;
• Coherency of the estimated budget expenditure proposal;
• Motivation and communication skills;
• Curriculum Vitae.

Application Deadline

How to Apply