https://diode.zone/videos/watch/005a82e0-a30b-41c8-b26c-bf771fbf9a18 The International Foundation for Science (IFS): 50 years after! Nighisty Ghezae, Nathalie Persson International Foundation for Science (IFS), Karlavägen 108, SE-115 26 Stockholm, Sweden This year, IFS will reach a half century of supporting research grant finance, research and communications skills development, science literacy, agenda setting, networking and collaboration. Because of its unique, bespoke and nurturing approach to supporting early-career scientists within low- and lower-middle-income countries, it is phenomenally well known and appreciated by early career scientists across the ‘global south’. The wealth of high quality applications to IFS represents an underutilised resource, whereby securing more resources / upscaling could represent an improved value for money proposition. Apart from the donor resources, which IFS secures and administers, the organisation has an experienced and highly professional multicultural secretariat, currently located in Stockholm, and a BoT that has representatives from all regions where IFS operates. There is an active alumni including six Alumni Associations across sub-Saharan Africa. In line with its establishment by the Pugwash Conference, and its contemporary significance, it has a deep reach into over 90 science academies, three quarters of which are in LLMICs. A huge strength of IFS remains its global network of 1400 scientific peers, many very senior in their field, many eminent former grantees, and a significant academic representation from Nordic countries, volunteering skills and time to evaluate proposals. Nighisty Ghezae is the Director of International Foundation for Science, Stockholm. Formerly she was the Head of Programmes at IFS and has held responsibilities for coordinating the IFS research programme, helping develop strategy and policy, oversight of research areas, coordinating and evaluating supporting activities provided to the IFS constituency and supervising programme staff. Dr Ghezae has broad experience in the creation of international multi-stakeholder networks, has capacity to engage in dialogue and build effective work partnerships, and has led development processes, linking global goals to national priorities. She has excellent knowledge of and contacts with researchers, research institutions, policy makers, the development community in Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. Dr Ghezae has a BA in economics, an MSc in the legal and institutional management of water resources, a Ph.D. in natural resources management and another Ph.D in international economics (impact of the global economy on Africa and its development). She has more than thirty years of professional experience as a lecturer, researcher, senior network officer, training organizer, program and project leader and evaluator. She has worked as a development consultant (2004-2007) with the UNDP, UNESCO, Sida, DGIS, IDRC, AfDB, Euro Consult, Danida and the EU. As Project Manager with the Global Water Partnership (1998-2004), she managed several integrated water resources management projects and led the work program of four regional offices in Africa and two in the Mediterranean region, as well as coordinating the EU water Initiative in Africa. Email: nighisty.ghezae@ifs.se  Tue, 20 Oct 2026 12:50:23 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://diode.zone https://diode.zone/lazy-static/avatars/61b689b7-84d5-43c7-9fa8-e63a7fd1d952.png https://diode.zone/videos/watch/005a82e0-a30b-41c8-b26c-bf771fbf9a18 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://diode.zone/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.