His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research valued Zayed University signing a Memorandum of Understanding with L’Oreal Middle East Foundation, on cooperation in the fellowship program launched by the Foundation in cooperation with UNESCO titled -L’Oreal UNESCO Pan Arab Regional Fellowships for Women in Science-, the Minister called on the Emirati female researchers to apply, participate and compete especially since she proved herself in all research fields, noting that two Emirati female researchers have won this award in 2013, and they are Dr. Fatima Al Jasmi for her research on genetic chemical diseases in the UAE, and Dr. Naeema Al-Darmaki for her research in chemical engineering.
The University’s signing is to complement its efforts in the advancement of Emirati women by hosting the L’Oréal -UNESCO Pan Arab Fellowships for Women in Science2013 awards ceremony in cooperation with the National Commission for scientific research in the Ministry of higher Education And Scientific Research, which spared no effort under the guidance of his Excellency Minister Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, for the development of higher education and scientific research as a priority in the objectives and strategies of the federal and private universities, since the development of higher education and scientific research will achieve success in the competitiveness that the UAE Government seeks to climb the first lists. The Minister had instructed all departments in the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to take all necessary measures to empower women and develop their leading role in society and work to provide scholarship opportunities for women and to encourage them by academic advisors to complete their postgraduate studies and directing them to the appropriate disciplines for future jobs and opportunities in the labor market.
The aim of the program which was signed in this session by her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of Development And International Cooperation, President of Zayed University, and Mr. Thierry Houssin, Managing Director of the Foundation during a ceremony at the headquarters of the University, is to celebrate the outstanding achievements of women scientists and researchers in the Arab world and reward and enable them to achieve and pursue further excellence in their fields, this year’s session includes the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Yemen, offering four scholarships each worth twenty thousand Euros are allocated, one to an Emarati researcher, while the remaining three to three researchers selected from the other six countries, the University will be responsible for receiving applications from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and communicate with them on this program and encourage qualified candidates to join it, the University will also host seminars where participants of previous years will shares their experiences to provide more details about it and encourage qualified candidates to participate in it, While the L’Oreal foundation is to coordination with the office of field training in Zayed University to provide training opportunities for students, under the Memorandum Zayed University would name a professor specializing in life sciences to join the current Committee of the program to work with it in the assessment of applications and choosing the winners in the program.
Both parties confirmed to work hard to help empower women to achieve their dreams in science and enhance their ability to choose the future, since the branches of L’Oreal Foundation worldwide awards 230 local fellowships every year, the program has been established-the L’Oréal -UNESCO Pan Arab Fellowships program was founded in 2000, to stimulate a distinct group of fifteen international fellows at the doctoral level and above through the support of their working for two years in prestigious institutions outside their countries of origin where they had acquired a unique experience and were able to build an important networking base, and since 1998 the program annonced more than 2,000 women in the science field in 115 countries, where two of them later won the Nobel Prize.
