Posted on June 30, 2011

Schlumberger Foundation Receives $50 Million to Support Faculty for the Future Program

The Houston-based Schlumberger Foundation has announced a $50 million grant from international oilfield services company Schlumberger Limited and its subsidiaries to support the foundation's Faculty for the Future fellowship program.

Now in its sixth year, Faculty for the Future awards fellowships to female scientists from developing nations to help them pursue advanced graduate degrees and postdoctoral fellowships in scientific disciplines at leading universities around the world. This year's cohort includes fifty-three women from thirty-one countries who will enroll in Ph.D. or post-doctoral studies in eighteen different fields. In addition, forty-five existing grants were extended.

After completing their studies, alumni are expected to return to their home countries to contribute to economic, social, and technological advancement by strengthening the faculties of local institutions and serving as role models for other young women.

"The Schlumberger Foundation launched the Faculty for the Future program based on a conviction that the lack of female role models was one of the greatest roadblocks in preventing young women in developing nations and emerging countries from pursuing a scientific career," said Schlumberger Foundation chairman and president Jean-Marc Perraud.

For a complete list of this year's fellows, visit the Faculty for the Future Web site.