To help TWAS bring sustainability to the forefront, the Elsevier Foundation will provide key funding for related fellowships over the next four years.

The four-year, $280,000 grant – announced in November at the 26th TWAS General Meeting hosted by the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna – will provide support for scientific work to help advance sustainable growth in the developing world. It will fund travel to TWAS General Meetings, both for experts in sustainability science who will speak on the topic and researchers from countries lagging in science and technology with an interest in sustainable development. The grant will also provide essential travel grants for  TWAS fellowships, in which scientists from one country will take part in research related to sustainable development in another country. For many of these scientists, the work will serve as a source of scientific training that they don't have access to in their own developing countries. For others, it will present opportunities for leaders in their fields in both the North and South to provide needed advice and training in least developed countries that lack access to expertise. 

"This grant represents a commitment to continuing and expanding an important collaboration between the Elsevier Foundation and TWAS," Murenzi said. "We are very grateful to receive this grant, and we are confident that it will produce valuable, positive impacts in advancing the science of sustainability in the developing world."

David Ruth, Executive Director of the Elsevier Foundation said on launching the program, “The work that that TWAS does in science-based sustainable development is critical for increasing research collaboration around the world and bringing talented scientists — both men and women — into the research debates and solutions — to address some of our biggest challenges. We're extremely pleased to support this new sustainability program in North-South Collaboration with TWAS.”

The Elsevier Foundation is a long-time partner of TWAS and the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD). The three organizations host the annual Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early-Career Women Scientists in the Developing World, a high-profile honour for scientific and career achievements, now in its fifth year.