Dr. Gladys Kahaka, a lecturer from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Namibia will be the first Namibian young women scientist to receive the UNESCO-L’Oreal International Fellowship for Young Women in Life Sciences Award. The 2012 UNESCO-L’Oreal International Fellowship Presentation Ceremony will take place on Thursday, 29 March 2012 at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

The aim of the UNESCO-L’Oreal International Fellowship for Young Women in Life Sciences “is to improve the position of women in science by recognizing outstanding women researchers who have contributed to scientific progress.” The Fellowship therefore, is designed to identify and reward fifteen deserving, committed and talented young women scientists, from all over the word, active in the Life Sciences.

A maximum of three young women scientists from each of the five geographical regions of the world are awarded the fellowships. Furthermore, The candidates must not be more than 35 years old, and must already be engaged in pursuing research at  doctoral or post-doctoral level in fields including, Biology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Agriculture, Medicine, Pharmacy and Physiology. The 2012 recipients from the Sub-Saharan Africa Region are from Kenya, Namibia and South Africa.

The post-doctoral research topic of Dr. Kahaka’s is:”The transcriptome quantification of Namibian endangered species using Affymetrix human and Arabidopsis ATH1 GeneChips.”  She will be conducting her research at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

Recipients of the Fellowship receive an initial fellowship amount of U$ 20 000.00 for a maximum of 12 months, and can be extended for up to 12 additional months with up to U$ 20 000.00 additional funding upon request of the Fellow and validation of the Selection Committee.