50 Early-Career Scientists Awarded Fellowships to Shape the Future of Science
We believe that scientific collaboration across borders is key to addressing global challenges. Through our Science Fellowships Program, we support the next generation of researchers and STEM educators by enabling international exchange, advancing scientific excellence, and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. For 2026, we are supporting 50 Fellows who have been selected from 388 applications.
Among them, 46 early-career scientists and professionals were selected from 370 applications and have been awarded fellowships that fund international research stays and strengthen global scientific exchange. They are Master's, PhD, and medical students pursuing research topics in four key research areas: drug discovery, agricultural science, medical science, and climate and health. Through these opportunities, fellows can expand their expertise, build international networks, and advance their research area.
In addition, we support the development of future STEM talent through fellowships for 4 trainee teachers and STEM educators in Germany. Their fellowship projects aim to strengthen trust in science and inspire the next generation of STEM enthusiasts.
This year's cohort brings together 50 outstanding individuals representing 21 nationalities, with 50% of fellows coming from low- and middle-income countries. Reflecting our continued commitment to gender equity in science, 58% of this year's fellows are women.
The program supports both inbound and outbound scientific exchange: 22 enrolled students in Germany will conduct research abroad, while 28 fellows will undertake research stays at German institutions. In total, we have awarded nearly €400,000 in funding.
Beyond financial support for international research placements, fellows gain access to networking opportunities and events that encourage knowledge sharing and interdisciplinary collaboration among emerging scientific leaders.
All fellows are selected through an independent review process conducted by a jury of scientists composed of Bayer employees and external experts.
Voices from Our Fellows
“...From the heart of rural Kenya to the Global stage, I'm honoured to be part of the Bayer Foundation Fellowship! This opportunity fuels my commitment to advancing research in food security. Together, we can create practical, science-based solutions that uplift farmers' livelihoods and build resilient food systems across Africa.”
Njeri Njau, Doctoral Research Fellow at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya, going to Kiel University (CAU), Germany
“...The Bayer Foundation Fellowship in Medical Sciences enables me to strengthen our international collaborations towards AI-driven precision medicine for COPD. I am grateful for this opportunity to advance my research at the intersection of AI and clinical impact.”
Benjamin Frey, Doctoral Research Fellow at Helmholtz Munich, Germany, going to University of Technology Syndney (UTS), Australia
Open applications for our program in 2027 will be announced soon on our channels. For more details, please visit here.
Meet our 2026 Fellows here:
Fellowship for Drug Discovery
Pedro Leite
From Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil to Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Germany
Project: Discovery of novel allosteric Abl kinase modulators with in silico and in vitro techniques
Toheeb Oyerinde
From University of Medical Sciences, Nigeria to Heinrich Heine University, Germany
Project: Early-Life Mitochondrial and Thermal Stress as Modifiers of Neuroligin-Mediated ASD Phenotypes
Meryem Lahrach
From Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco to University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany
Project: Experimental validation of in silico-predicted inhibitors of Streptococcus mutans biofilm formation
Vanessa Arnold
From University of Tübingen, Germany to University of the Basque Country, Spain
Project: Closing the Gap: A Predictive Digital Twin Framework for Drug Discovery in Neuro-Oncology
Sonam Raghav
From Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence Delhi India, India to Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces Potsdam Germany, Germany
Project: Biophysical dissection of antimicrobial peptide mechanisms against resistant bacterial membranes
Muhammad Waqas
From Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Germany to Princeton University, USA
Project: Awakening Silent Biosynthetic Pathways for Next-Generation Antimicrobial Drug Discovery
Sogand Ahari
From Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Germany to University of Auckland, New Zealand
Project: Development of Patient-Derived Breast Cancer Assembloids for Functional Precision Drug Screening
Laetitia Youmbi Meuyou
From University of yaounde I, Cameroon to Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU munich), Germany
Project: Antiplatelet potential of Ficus exasperata extract in GPVI-mediated thromboinflammation in cancer
Maximilian Fidlin
From Heidelberg University, Germany to University of Oxford, UK
Project: Ultrasound-enhanced biophotonic platform to understand mechanobiological T-Cell activation
Fotios Fotakis
From University of Stuttgart, Germany to Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), Switzerland
Project: Mechanism-oriented evaluation of synthetic antiplasmodial lipid analogues in Plasmodium falciparum
Amal Gasmi
From Pasteur Institute of Tunis and Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), Germany
Project: M2M-KG: A Population-Aware Computational Drug Repurposing Framework for North African Rare Diseases
Adedayo Adesida
From Institute of Genomics and Global Health, Nigeria to Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Germany
Project: Phasing Multiple Infections in Plasmodium falciparum to Decipher Adaptation and Drug Resistance
Fellowship for Medical Science
Oluwapelumi Solagbade
From College of Health Science Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria to Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
Project: Cross-Site Generalizability of Brain-Age Models: Benchmarking Harmonization across Health Dispariti
Immanuel Afrika Musau
From Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda to Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS, Germany
Project: Phage-based electrochemical biosensor for E. coli detection in drinking water
Hamza Aliyu Hassan
From University of Abuja Nigeria, Nigeria to Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Germany
Project: Standardized PCR-Based Detection of ESBL and Key AMR Genes in Cattle-Associated Escherichia.coli
Clara Gallay
From University of Pompeu Fabra, Spain to Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
Project: Linking endocrine variables to reproductive health in Alzheimer's Disease risk and prevention
Hilja Eelu
From University of Cape Town, South Africa to Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
Project: Modelling cost-effective malaria control for subnational elimination at Namibia’s northern borders
Aya Ghoul
From University Hospital of Tübingen, Germany to University Hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland
Project: On-Scanner integration of motion-robust fetal MRI for prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease
Benjamin Frey
From Helmholtz Munich, Germany to University of Technology Syndney (UTS), Australia
Project: Comparative analysis of model systems to study COPD
Maximilian José Gabriel Schäfer
From Heidelberg University, Germany to Harvard Medical School, USA
Project: Characterization of the functional domains of PHF2, a novel regulator of subtype-specific PDAC
Lisa Fuchs
From Ludwig Maximilians Universität LMU Munich, Germany to University of Oxford, UK
Project: Precision Diagnostics for Precision Medicine in Neuro-Oncology
Fiyinfoluwa Ojeniyi
From Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Nigeria to Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tuebingen, Germany
Project: Characterisation of Immunological and Genetic Signatures of Naturally Acquired Malaria Immunity
Etienne Yuh Jam
From University of Bamenda, Cameroon to Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
Project: Machine Learning Analysis of the RISK6 Transcriptomic Signature for Tuberculosis Across Africa
Carmen Marie Castañeda González
From Technical University of Munich, Germany to University of Maryland, USA
Project: Towards Better Hearing: A Binaural Coding Strategy to Improve Sound Localization in Cochlear Implant
Klara Niebrügge
From University of Hamburg, Germany to Boston Children’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School, USA
Project: Evaluation of Intraoperative Conduction Mapping to Prevent Arrhythmias in Congenital Heart Surgery
Simon Hammer
From Heidelberg University, Germany to Kyoto University, Japan
Project: A novel 4D ex vivo imaging platform to study perturbations in early nephron morphogenesis
Julia Vining
From Paracelsus Medical University Nuremburg, Germany to McMaster University, Canada
Project: ANTHEA: Advanced Nanocoatings for Thromboresistance & hemocompatibility using Endothelial Attraction
Jolly Thomas
From University of Ibadan, Nigeria to Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Germany
Project: Computational Prediction of MicroRNAs Targeting GBA1 in Parkinson's Disease in African Ancestry
Alexej Sinner
From University of Hamburg, Germany to University of Tartu, Estonia
Project: Trade-offs in human immunity: the role of HLA diversity and sex
Manel Perez Pons
From Institut de Recerca Biomèdica de Lleida and Universitat de Lleida, Spain to Hannover Medical School, Germany
Project: Decoding Host and Viral microRNA Signatures in Human Herpesvirus Reactivations in Critical Illness
Yasemin Begum Topkarci
From University of Muenster, Germany to Aarhus University, Denmark
Project: Evaluation of a Technique for Permanent Epiphysiodesis in a Porcine Model
Fellowship for Climate & Health
Sena Alohoutade
From University of Cape Town, South Africa to Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
Project: Optimizing Malaria Control in Benin under Climate Change: A Modelling and Economic Approach
Sonam Priya
From BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus India, India to University of Goettingen, Germany
Project: Impact of Climate Change on Adverse Birth Outcomes in India
Sonia Ezeocha
From David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences Ebonyi, Nigeria to Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
Project: Association between Extreme Heat Exposure and Preeclampsia in a Tropical Low Resource Setting
Patrick Gad Iradukunda
From Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany to The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), Switzerland
Project: Climate-Driven Demand and Procurement Gaps for Neglected Tropical Disease Medicines in Rwanda
Iman Ouadria
From Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany to Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, UK
Project: Impact of Heat Stress on Hematopoiesis and Immune Lineage Differentiation
Fellowship for Agricultural Science
Ayomide Bhadmus
From Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta Ogun State, Nigeria to Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) Gatersleben, Germany
Project: Multi-omics data integration for high-throughput characterization of genebank pigeon pea diversity
Njeri Njau
From Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya to Kiel University (CAU), Germany
Project: Climate-driven Destabilisation of Rhizosphere Nutrient Cycling by Root-Knot Nematodes
Pratiyaksha Sharma
From Amity University Noida, India to Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP) Greifswald, Germany
Project: Development of Non-thermal (Cold) Plasma Based Seed Priming Technology for Sustainable Legume Prodn
Maksym Hrachov
From University of Hohenheim, Germany to The Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh), UK
Project: Estimation of the maximum prediction gain from environmental covariates in sugar beet breeding
Isabella Frighetto Bomfiglio
From Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil to Bielefeld University, Germany
Project: Antibiotic-Free tRNA-Based Plasmid Maintenance for Crop Osmoprotectants production by C. glutamicum
Choukouriyah Arinloye
From Stellenbosch University, South Africa to Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Germany
Project: Digital Emulation of Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics and Evaluation of Carbon Sequestration Strategies
Victoria Bikogwa Bulegeya
From Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania to The University of Rostock, Germany
Project: Haplotype-based dissection and fine-mapping of genomic region for submergence tolerance in rice
Urooj Farid
From COMSATS University Islamabad, Pakistan to Technical University of Munich, Germany
Project: Harnessing Medicinal-Plant-Derived PGPRs to Enhance Wheat Root Plasticity under Drought Stress
Víctor Ariel Bravo
From Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Argentina to Philipps-Universität Marburg Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), Germany
Project: Characterization of the biological functions of the sNA Sm84 in the symbiotic bacterium S. meliloti
Megha Singh
From University of South Carolina, USA to Technical University of Munich, Germany
Project: Understanding and improving predictions of soil nitrogen in agricultural systems
Fellowship for Trainee Teachers & STEM Educators
Clemens Frank
From IPN – Leibniz-Institut für die Pädagogik der Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik, Germany to Trinity Walton Club, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Linda Krockert
From Johanna-Geissmar-Gymnasium, Germany to Allgemeinbildende Goethe-Schule Nr. 23, Kyrgyzstan
Lisa Maria Malotki
From Institut für Didaktik der Naturwissenschaften. Physikdidaktik. Universität Bremen, Germany to Kirchliche Pädagogische Hochschule Wien/Niederösterreich, Austria
Michelle Sondermann
From Universität Paderborn, Germany to Deutsche Schule Melbourne, Australia
