Postdoctoral training abroad is a key career step that many women do not take for personal, financial, and family reasons--or so says the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, which is putting its money where its mouth is with a new funding program that aims to bridge that gap. The new Sara Lee Schupf Postdoctoral Awards offer talented young women who did a Ph.D. in the natural or exact sciences at an Israeli academic institution a grant of $20,000 a year and social, personal, and professional support while they train in a foreign institution for 2 years. "The long-term goal of the program is to invest resources in women who plan to develop their scientific careers in Israel, and to create a feminine leadership within the Israeli research community," wrote the Institute in a press release.
Awards will be issued annually, and this year's winners have just been announced. Of the 11 awardees, three conducted their doctoral studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, three more at the Weizmann Institute of Science, two at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, two more at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and one at Tel Aviv University. Eight will carry out their postdoctoral training in America, two in Germany, and one in France.
Those interested in applying next year should keep an eye on the awards' Web site for further announcements.
