Although funding agencies have diminished resources today for research studies, scholars and budding researchers should never lose hope. Advanced countries continue to have funding for international students who are bright and innovative in research and academia. Principal investigators are senior professors in research labs, with scholarships and grants being offered to deserving scholars. To most young people from developing countries, it opens floodgates of international prestige as they get a chance to collaborate on the latest developments of science and technology.
An academic resume with high scores in bachelor’s and master’s degree is not sufficient for receiving research grants and scholarships in international universities. Young scholars from developing countries also need to submit a truly innovative research proposal that needs to be reviewed and approved by the supervisor at international universities; an eminent team of full professors includes subject matter experts in specialized fields. These professors screen various research proposals and academic resumes of candidates to select the eminent ones for funding.
In this article, we provide a gist of some of the most prominent channels advertising vacancies and openings for research grants and scholarships. These are channels that normally feature openings of research in various prestigious universities all across the world.
1) The World Academy of Sciences: https://twas.org/
Based in Italy, this is a prestigious organization geared toward helping scientists in developing countries through collaboration. The organization provides research grants, fellowships, prizes and awards to deserving young researchers from developing countries. The fellowships received by these researchers can be used to pursue doctoral and post-doctoral studies. Researchers with terminal degrees (PhD) from their home countries may work as post-doc researchers, independent scholars, and visiting professors with these research grants. This prestigious organization has regional offices in India, Egypt, China, South Africa, and Brazil: these are countries that are now known as emerging economies.
2) EURAXESS https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/
Researchers in Motion: This is a unique initiative by this organization that is backed by the European Union. Its main objective is to provide funding to scientists and researchers with an aim of increasing mobility of science. Thus, various initiatives are laid down to building concerted efforts for dissemination of scientific expertise from European scientists to the rest of world. Scientists from developing world can gain access to scholarships and funding to work as researchers in Europe and in other emerging/developed countries (Japan, India, etc).
Science4Refugees: In a war-torn world, the number of people fleeing their home countries to foreign land is increasing tremendously; these people are known as refugees and they are simply victims of their circumstances. This organization is geared toward providing support to scientists migrating as refugees to foreign lands.
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program https://www.nsfgrfp.org/
National Science Foundation (NSF) is the federal government organization of the United States of America. Deserving students receive grants and fellowships for pursuing post-doc research in various prestigious universities of the USA. Most fellowships are geared toward sophisticated advancement programs in science, technology, engineering, and math. The candidates receive grants based on their Intellectual Merit Criterion, which is a cumulative average of their grades as well as the experimental study design of their research proposal. Previous research publications also add weightage to the candidates’ resume.
- Fellows from AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
https://www.aaas.org/ http://www.sciencemag.org/careers
At this platform, there are many jobs advertised for scientists; these are not just restricted to research and academia. This website advertises many positions and opportunities for pursuing doctorate, post-doctorate, and research careers are advertised at this website. These opportunities are available not just at leading universities and research organizations but also at various scientific conglomerates. Moreover, it provides complete guidance to master’s and bachelor’s students on how to pursue their admission and research proposal while applying for doctorate programs.
Conclusion: Research grants are very competitive and strict; however, most research proposals having an interdisciplinary study design are usually approved by the principal investigating team of professors. Funding is a prestigious honor and it creates great room for innovation; funding grants provided at these channels also cover benefits such as travel and health insurance, including when researchers are required to go to international conferences.