Latest News
- Postdoctoral Fellowships The Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) project will fund up to 12 post-doctoral Fellowship positions in universities and institutions located in the African SKA Partner Countries (APCs). The APCs are Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Madagascar, Mozambique and Mauritius. Research programmes in astrophysics relevant to radio astronomy will be prioritized, but complementary multi-wavelength …
- AfNWA-ISP 2023 awards recognise outstanding early career and senior women in astronomy in Africa
12 April 2024 The African Network for Women in Astronomy (AfNWA) is delighted to announce Dr Brenda Namumba as the winner of the “Prof. Carolina Ödman-Govender Early Career Award” and Prof. Hasnaa Chennaoui Aoudjehane as the winner of the “Senior Award” for Women in Astronomy in Africa. The nomination acknowledges Dr Namumba’s and Prof. Chennaoui … - AfNWA Women in Astronomy in Africa Book
In preparation for the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly (GA) 2024, the first GA to be held in Africa (6-15 August 2024, Cape Town, South Africa), the African Network of Women in Astronomy (AfNWA) is planning to design an attractive storytelling book on professional female astronomers in Africa. The aim of this book is, … - AfNWA Call for Board Members
The African Network of Women in Astronomy (AfNWA) aims to improve the status of women in science in Africa and to use astronomy to inspire more girls to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). With AfNWA we want to ensure the future participation of girls and women at all levels in the advancement of … - AfNWA call for seed grants in support of projects focusing on empowering girls from disadvantaged communities
The African Network of Women in Astronomy (AfNWA), a sub-committee of the African Astronomical Society (AfAS), in collaboration with the AfAS Education and Outreach Committee is opening a call for seed funding to support outreach activities carried out in Africa focused on the use of astronomy and STEM to empower girls living in disadvantaged communities … - 2023 WOMEN IN ASTRONOMY AWARDS
The African Network for Women in Astronomy (AfNWA), a sub-committee of the African Astronomical Society (AfAS), in collaboration with the International Science Programme (ISP), Uppsala University, Sweden is delighted to invite nominations for the 2023 Women in Astronomy in Africa awards. The aim of the awards is to recognise and support the scientific achievements and … - AfNWA Board: Terms of Reference
The Terms of Reference between the African Astronomical Society (AfAS) and the African Network for Women in Astronomy (AfNWA) are now available here. It has been approved by the AfNWA Board and AfAS Executive Committee members on October 19, 2023. For your convenience, the Terms of Reference are now available here, and you can download … - Launching of AfNWA outreach videos
AfNWA is launching its first outreach videos to inspire girls to do STEM and for empowering girls through science. We are grateful to all AfNWA members who shared their stories and vision in the videos and who made them possible. We hope you will find them a useful resource for your outreach and education initiatives … - Award recognises top female early career astronomer in Africa
Cape Town – 13 February 2023 The African Network for Women in Astronomy (AfNWA) is delighted to announce Dr Al-Shaimaa Hassanin as winner of the newly named “Prof. Carolina Ödman Early Career Award” for Women in Astronomy in Africa. The nomination acknowledges Dr Hassanin’s excellent contribution in science, efforts to advance women’s representation in science at different … - Tribute to Carolina ÖdMAN
It’s with heavy hearts that we learnt of the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Carolina Odman, on 15 November 2022. Carolina was a founding member of the African Network for Women in Astronomy (AfNWA) and a serving member of the AfNWA board. She has been a powerful force in our community, advocating for … - 2022 Women in astronomy Awards
The African Network of Women in Astronomy (AfNWA), a sub-committee of the African Astronomical Society (AfAS), in collaboration with the International Science Programme (ISP), Uppsala University, Sweden is delighted to invite nominations for the 2022 Women in Astronomy in Africa awards. The aim of the award is to recognise and support the scientific achievements, and contributions … - The Cosmic Savannah Podcast features AfNWA
We are delighted to have been asked to contribute to the Cosmic Savannah Podcast, the only podcast dedicated to African astronomy. The episode is number 54 of their series and is available here: https://thecosmicsavannah.com/episode-54-the-african-network-of-women-in-astronomy/ Of course, don’t miss any of their other episodes by subscribing to the podcast on your favourite platform. Thank you to … - Special AfNWA session at the AfAS conference
AfNWA organised a special session on 17 of March during the AfAS annual meeting titled ‘Current status of AfNWA after one year since its official launching‘. This session briefly summarised the work done in the last year, including AfNWA awards, and what are the plans for 2022. The second part of the session was an … - New board member: Ms. Salma Sylla Mbaye
We are thrilled to welcome a new member to our board, who will strengthen the presence of West Africa in AfAS – AfNWA. With a background in atomic and nuclear physics, Ms. Salma Sylla Mbaye is currently doing her PhD in astrophysics, making her the first astrophysicist in her home country, Senegal. She used her … - FIRST EVER AFRICAN WOMEN IN ASTRONOMY AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Cape Town – 2 March 2022 Two exceptional women in science are being recognised by the inaugural awards of the African Network of Women in Astronomy. The early career award goes to Dr. Marie Korsaga, Burkina Faso’s first woman astronomer and the senior award goes to Prof. Renée Kraan-Korteweg from South Africa. The awards, worth … - Celebrating World Space Week Oct 04 – 10 2021
To get a glimpse of African women working in Astronomy and Space, we invite you to browse through the presentation below. AfNWA World Space Week 4 10 oct. 2021 from Carolina Ödman-Govender - Growing a network of skilled professionals in Astronomy – the story of the SKA South Africa
Special talk on Tuesday October 12 at 14:00 SAST The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), formerly known as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) South Africa project, established a human capacity development programme in 2015 to grow the science and engineering skills base on the African continent for the construction and hosting of the SKA … - Second session of CV training workshop
On 10 August 2021, AfNWA gave its second session on how to write an excellent CV. The workshop was moderated by Prof. Somaya Saad and given by Dr. Carolina Odman. It was attended by about 15 people, the majority of whom were women, but not all. These training sessions help the members of the AfNWA … - Seminars and articles
AfNWA and AfAS have been presented during the two invited seminars organised by: 1) Keele University, UK, in May, and 2) Leiden Observatory, The Netherlands, in June. Important visibility to AfNWA and AfAS has been given among the international community during these two seminars, as well as to the current status of women in astronomy … - Jocelyn Bell Inspiration Medal given to AfNWA Co-founder Prof. Mirjana Povic
This medal celebrates Mirjana’s inspirational work and was awarded at the European Astronomical Society annual meeting in June 2021. Mirjana gave a plenary presentation that was attended by more than 550 participants. She inspired the audience, by giving them a picture on how Astronomy can be used in Africa to contribute to the Sustainable Development … - Growing International exposure for AfNWA
AfNWA was presented during the opening Plenary of the Africa-EU Science and Innovation Summit in June 2021. The event was attended by nearly 200 people. This event and others are a great opportunity grow the membership of AfNWA. The event included a range of themes, including Health, Medicine, Life Sciences, Geoscience, ICT, Digital Transformation, the … - Special Sessions at the 6th East African Astronomical Society Workshop
Two special sessions on women in science have been organised under the 6th East African Astronomical Society Workshop and the Africa-EU Science and Innovation Summit, held virtually in May and June, respectively. More than 50 participants from Africa, Europe, and the rest of the world attended each of the sessions. The two organised sessions gave more … - Training on Presentation Skills
In May 2021, AfNWA held its second training workshop, about “How to give an impactful Presentation”. The training was attended by 36 enthusiastic participants – 23 women and 13 men. We were lucky to have the training workshop given by by Dr. Jacinta Delhaize, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cape Town with a … - Training on CV Writing offered
On 22 April AfNWA held its first training for the Network. It was about writing curriculum vitae. The event was oversubscribed and it was decided to run a second one at a later date. The training focused on practical advice for ones own CV, and for applying for jobs, in academia as well as in … - AfNWA’s first paper published
AS part of the Proceedings of the IAU Symposium 367 on Education and Heritage in the Ear of Big Data in Astronomy, we published the following paper: Inclusive education and research through African Network of Women in Astronomy and STEM for GIRLS in Ethiopia initiatives Mirjana Pović, Vanessa McBride, Priscilla Muheki, Carolina Ödman-Govender, Somaya Saad, Nana Ama Brown Klutse, Aster Tsegaye, Tigist … - AfNWA Special Session at AfAS2021
We were lucky to host a Special Session about AfNWA at the Annual Conference of the African Astronomical Society. This gave us a lot of food for thought and input from participants. It also cemented our conviction of being open to anyone wishing to join the network, not just women. Below is the description of … - Official Launch of AfNWA
We are delighted to announce the launch fo the African Network of Women in Astronomy – AfAS AfNWA. We are a committee of the African Astronomical Society and we have set out to network as many women in astronomy and space science as possible across our beautiful continent and abroad. Here is some news coverage … - Presentation of AfNWA at the IAU Symposium 367
The 367th Symposium of the International Astronomical Union is themed “Education and Heritage in the Era of Big Data in Astronomy”. AfNWA was presented by Prof. Mirjana Povic in the context of her overview talk about the state of Astronomy in Africa. See below for a recording.