Open Doors Fellowship Program 2026 for Women Researchers in Africa – Apply Now

Application Deadline: Not specified (apply as soon as possible)

About the Fellowship

The VIB-International Plant Biotechnology Outreach (IPBO) offers the Open Doors Fellowship Program 2026 to support women researchers in Africa. The fellowship is designed to strengthen the careers of post-doctoral and mid-career female scientists by providing training, international research exposure, and professional development opportunities. The program focuses particularly on women working in agricultural and biological sciences who face limited access to research infrastructure, training, and global research networks.

What Makes This Program Unique

The Open Doors Fellowship Program targets post-doctoral and mid-career women researchers conducting agricultural research in African (inter)national research centres. Its goal is to contribute to the consolidation of mid-career researchers and prevent them from leaking from the scientific pipeline. Through its unique conceptualization and implementation, the program is tailored to participants’ training needs to provide a fulfilling, nurturing, and empowering learning experience.

Fellowship Structure

The program runs in two main phases over about 20 months:

Phase 1: Research Stay in Belgium
Selected fellows undertake a fully funded research stay of about three months in Belgium, where they collaborate with advanced laboratories, use equipment not accessible in Africa, learn new techniques, and expand their scientific networks. During this phase, fellows also receive courses on cross-cultural communication, public presentation skills, and how to submit competitive project proposals under the EU Horizon funding scheme, together with their Belgian counterparts.

The program actively works to connect Belgian laboratories with existing African research to generate long-term and mutual learning for enriching collaborations. Continuous North-South and South-South collaborations between labs are fostered after this phase through diverse projects managed by IPBO.

Phase 2: Tailored Online Training
After returning to Africa, fellows continue their development through 16–17 months of online training. A unique feature is that fellows can tailor their training curriculum by accessing six courses from the VIB training online portfolio on soft skills, hard skills, and coaching courses during this period. Beyond these, the training package includes Negotiation Skills, Project Management, and Self-Leadership modules to help beneficiaries navigate their careers more confidently.

Fellowship Benefits

Participants receive several benefits, including:

• Research Visibility Support: Training in scientific communication and financial incentives to attend conferences and cover open-access publication fees, because if research outputs are not visible, fellows aren’t either
• Access to international research networks and collaborations through the Belgian research stay
• Professional development in leadership, project management, negotiation, and scientific communication
• Networking opportunities with both Belgian and African research counterparts

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Be a female post-doctoral or mid-career researcher (at least one year after PhD)
• Work in fields such as plant breeding, agro-biotechnology, molecular biology, microbiology, chemical ecology, plant and soil health, livestock, or aquaculture
• Be employed at a university or research institution in Africa and supervise graduate students
• Have an active research position during the fellowship period

How to Apply

Interested applicants can learn more and submit their application through the official program page.

Click here to apply

For More Information: Visit the Official Webpage of the Open Doors Fellowship Program, where you can also explore profiles of current and past fellows to better understand how this opportunity might impact your future career.