Danai Tavonga Zhou from Zimbabwe is a senior lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe and the principal investigator of the African Excellence in Research Initiative (AFRIESEARCHI) Zimbabwe Gender in STEMM project. She is also a postdoctoral scholar of the Biomedical Research Training Institute, hosted by the University of Zimbabwe and University of Buffalo, State University of New York.
Danai holds a PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Oslo, Faculty of Medicine, in Norway. She has received many travel grants, fellowships and scholarships in the past, such as a research development fellowship from the Africa Research Excellence Fund for laboratory training at the Technical University of Munich in Germany, a Wellcome Trust Bursary to a Viral Genomics and Bioinformatics Training Workshop at the University of Makerere in Uganda, and an Independent Research Fellowship from Letten Foundation in Norway.
Danai decided to become an Africademics Scholarship Ambassador because she herself has reaped the rewards of mentorship and scholarships and would like to give back. Her goals are to empower young people in lower- and middle-income countries to embrace STEM and contribute to health- and gender-related sustainable development goals.
In 10 years’ time, Danai hopes to have established a non-profit organization that focuses on research and professional mentorship in Sub-Saharan Africa. She also aims to become a full professor, dean or vice-chancellor, as well as secure research funding to set up a state-of-the-art genomics and bioinformatics research laboratory. Something people might not know about Danai are that she loves singing and she has an identical twin.
Welcome to the Africademics Ambassador Programme, Danai!
The Scholarship Ambassador Programme
Through the Scholarship Ambassador Programme Africademics trains volunteers from across Africa to become scholarship advisors and mentors. Ambassadors complete a 4-month online course with virtual lectures, case studies and additional activities. Once they have successfully graduated, our Scholarship Ambassadors offer personal support, advice and mentorship for scholarship seekers and applicants in and from Africa.
Our 2022 Ambassador cohort started their training in April 2022 and we are thrilled to have over 90 students and scholars from across the African continent on board this year. In 2021, we welcomed our first cohort of 30 Scholarship Ambassadors who completed their training in November 2021. They now offer free scholarship consultations, mentorship and application assistance for scholarship seekers in and from Africa on a regular basis.
Meet our team of Scholarship Ambassadors here and let us know via our contact form if you would like to book a personal consultation with one of them!
