Every two years, the UNESCO–AI Fozan International Prize for the Promotion of Young Scientists in STEM honours 5 distinctive researchers, representing every of the following areas: Africa, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America and Latin America and the Caribbean. The prestigious prize will likely be introduced throughout a ceremony held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.
For its second version, the Laureates have been chosen from a pool of 269 shortlisted candidates by means of a sturdy analysis course of, carried out by an unbiased jury composed of 5 consultants:
-
Mr Heiner Linke (Germany/Sweden), Chair of the Jury, Professor of Nanophysics at Lund University, and Vice President of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings;
-
Ms Katya Echazarreta (Mexico/USA), Vice-Chair, electrical engineer, advocate for STEM schooling for girls, and the first Mexican-born girl to journey to area;
-
Mr Kétévi Assamagan (Togo), Professor of physics at Brookhaven National Laboratory and co-founder of the African School of Physics;
-
Mr Hani Choudhry (Saudi Arabia), Professor of Genomics and Biotechnology, and Vice Governor at the Research, Development and Innovation Authority of Saudi Arabia;
-
Ms Xuanmei Fan (China), Director of State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection at Chengdu University of Technology, and co-founder of the Global Partnership for Smart Informatics and Multi-hazard Reduction.
2025 Laureates
Mr. Ndaudika MULUNDILENI (Namibia) – Laureate for Africa
Recognized for his management of the Mindsinaction STEAM Centre, an initiative in Namibia devoted to empowering youth by means of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics schooling.
Mr. Ndaudika Mulundileni’s work in selling STEM schooling in Namibia has reached underserved communities, bridged academic gaps, and challenged societal norms. He has impressed youth to determine, sort out and remedy real-life challenges by constructing useful prototypes by means of the Mindsinaction STEAM applications, which Mr. Mulundileni co-founded. His initiatives have empowered learners with hands-on abilities in coding, robotics, and problem-solving, which have fostered a tradition of innovation from the floor up. Mindsinaction has additionally established sustainable studying buildings and skilled over 200 lecturers to ship an adaptive curriculum which promotes lifelong studying. This work is cultivating a technology of artistic thinkers and downside solvers, driving Namibia towards inclusive and future-ready improvement.
Dr. Mounia LAASSIRI (Morocco) – Laureate for Arab States
Recognized for her management in know-how improvement inside giant, worldwide collaborations specializing in excessive vitality physics in addition to science schooling on the African continent.
Dr. Mounia Laassiri is a nuclear and particle physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the place she works as a postdoctoral researcher. She can be a Visiting Scientist at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Her work contains testing and bettering the efficiency of detector parts for the ATLAS Inner Tracker Upgrade and main the group and administration of the African School of Physics. She holds a Ph.D. in Physics and Nuclear Instrumentation from Mohammed V University in Morocco, the place she additionally earned a bachelor’s diploma in Fundamental Studies, Science of the Physical Matter and a grasp’s diploma in Security of Computer Networks and Embedded Systems. Her energetic roles in worldwide science initiatives embrace enhancing the African Physics Newsletter, organizing conferences and colleges, and serving on the Governing Council of the Arab Physical Society in addition to the Executive Committee of the American Physics Society Forum on International Physics. Laassiri is dedicated to science outreach, mentoring, and fostering collaborations that bridge African, Arab, and international physics communities.
Dr. Lijing CHENG (China) – Laureate for Asia and the Pacific
Recognized for his contributions to offering scientific proof for marine local weather change as a vital foundation for threat evaluation, local weather change adaptation and mitigation.
Dr. Lijing Cheng acquired his PhD from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2014, the place he then labored as a full professor. His work contains creating ocean information processing strategies and datasets, learning historic ocean warmth content material, salinity and oxygen adjustments, and investigations of our planet’s vitality funds and water cycle. He is a lead writer of the IPCC’s Special Report for Ocean and Cryosphere in addition to the UN World Ocean Assessment, and a coordinating lead writer of each the 7th IPCC Assessment Report and China’s National Assessment Report on Climate Change. He leads international researchers in bettering ocean information high quality, setting up high-quality gridded datasets, understanding of how the ocean responds to local weather change, learning the related dangers to assist Sustainable Development Goals, and informing coverage choices worldwide relative to local weather adaptation and mitigation.
Dr. Kyriaki MICHAILIDOU(Cyprus) – Laureate for Europe and North America
Recognized for her pioneering methodologies to outline breast most cancers threat prediction instruments which have already been adopted in worldwide medical pointers.
Dr. Kyriaki Michailidou is a scientist, affiliate professor and Head of the Biostatistics Unit of the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics. Her analysis lies at the intersection of genetics, epidemiology and biostatistics – with a specific deal with breast and ovarian most cancers. She leads a multidisciplinary workforce of researchers and college students devoted to uncovering frequent and uncommon variants related to most cancers threat, whereas additionally advancing statistical methodologies to deal with complicated scientific challenges. She holds a PhD in Genetic Epidemiology from the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom), an MSc in Applied Statistics from the University of Oxford (United Kingdom), and a Bachelor’s in Mathematics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece).
Dr. Rosa VÁSQUEZ ESPINOZA (Perú) – Laureate for Latin America and the Caribbean
Recognized for her work on biodiversity in the Amazon integrating scientific innovation with indigenous information by means of multinational partnerships, for her mentorship of underrepresented researchers and for advancing conservation methods.
Dr. Rosa Vásquez Espinoza is the founder and Executive Director of Amazon Research Internacional (ARI). This Peru-based non-profit group is devoted to regenerating biodiversity and supporting indigenous information in the Amazon area by means of conservation initiatives, scientific analysis, academic experiences, and the empowerment of native communities and leaders. These initiatives are supported by means of funds, donations and volunteers. Through ARI, she works to bridge scientific innovation with ancestral information, making certain that Amazonian communities usually are not solely members however leaders and co-creators in conservation, biodiversity analysis and local weather options. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Biology from the University of Michigan (United States of America), a BS in Biology and a BS in Chemistry from Tennessee Technological University (United States of America). She has Amazonian-Andean indigenous heritage and is a United Nations Harmony with Nature scientist, a National Geographic Explorer, and a keynote speaker who collaborates with tons of of lecture rooms round the world to encourage younger folks about nature, science and sustainability.