Support to applied nutrition research
NTW's main activity is to provide financial assistance to researchers in developing countries in the field of applied nutrition.
NTW only supports research that translates the results of fundamental research into practical action.
The emphasis is thus on actual application: utilisation of the findings in programmes concerning health, education, rural development, training, advocacy, etc... Consequently, NTW also supports methodological research regarding the planning, implementation, management and evaluation of nutritional programmes as well as regarding the training of executive and implementing staff.
Research projects that benefit from NTW support are therefore mainly conducted in developing countries, in the field and in contact with deprived populations.
As a corollary to its main activity, NTW is also interested in the training of promising young scientists from developing countries, who are not yet sufficiently established to benefit from traditional research funding sources but possess real potential. NTW contributes to their professional development by providing them with the means to conduct their research and ensuring they are duly supervised.
NTW does not grant fellowships.
The originality of NTW's approach is that it lies between:
- actual assistance to malnourished populations or groups of persons, an activity which falls under the responsibility of governmental, bilateral and international agencies, and of non-governmental organisations;
- fundamental research conducted in laboratories and hospitals and benefiting from an easier access to different sources of financing.
Nevertheless the researchers are required to submit their results to scientific journals.
Since its inception NTW has adopted a basic philosophy of respect for the researchers of the Third World: a concern for the preservation of their independence; taking into account their financial, institutional, supervision and communication requirements; consideration of their need for moral support and recognition by their peers and by their fellow countrymen.
NTW also supports an online African journal (AJFAND).
The 20th anniversary symposium on "Research in Applied Nutrition: Challenges and Expectations"
This international symposium was jointly organised in December 2004 by Nutrition Third World and the Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences of Belgium. Guest speakers were all present or past grantees of NTW.
click here to find more information on the Symposium
click here to download a summary of the Symposium Proceedings