New Microsoft Awards and Grants Programs

On November 20, 2008, Microsoft announced the creation of a financial funding program designed to offer support for scientific research in Africa. For this endeavor, Microsoft Research partnered with TWAS (the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World) and AAS (the African Academy of Sciences) putting together a couple of Microsoft Awards and Grants programs. The software giant will offer financial back-up for both the Microsoft Award for Young Scientists and the Microsoft Grant for Scientific Meetings in Developing Countries.

"To achieve the Millennium Development Goals, Africa must create knowledge- and skills-based wealth,” explained Dr Cheick Modibo Diarra, Microsoft’s Chairman for Africa. “The prosperity of the continent is dependent on African small and medium enterprises relying on results from research and development. They can then develop locally relevant solutions and value-added opportunities that will lead to the accelerated industrialisation of Africa."

As a part of the Microsoft Award for Young Scientists, the software company is prepared to deliver three awards of €7,000 in cash on a yearly basis to three young scientists from Africa. According to Microsoft, only the work coming from African scientists who received their research degree in the past ten years will be taken into consideration. The Redmond giant is especially looking for research projects in computer science with the potential to help the developing world evolve.

In addition to the Microsoft Award for Young Scientists, the company is also planning to start catalyzing an influx of scientific conferences and workshops in Africa. In order to draw in international organizations and companies to the continent, Microsoft is prepared to offer travel grants to participants. This can be done via the Microsoft Grant for Scientific Meetings in Developing Countries.

"TWAS and AAS are always eager to work with the private sector for the benefit of the developing world,” added Mohamed H.A. Hassan, executive director of TWAS and president of AAS. “We believe that this initiative will not only mark an important step forward for science in Africa, but will also serve as a valuable model for future partnerships between international organisations and for-profit companies."