2016 NRF - TWAS Post-Doctoral Fellowships Call

The National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), in partnership with The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), are pleased to announce the call for fellowship applications for the NRF - TWAS Postdoctoral Fellowships for 2016. These fellowships are open to permanent residents from eligible developing countries other than South Africa. 

Applicants must apply on the NRF Online system at: https://nrfsubmission.nrf.ac.za and follow the application process set out in the attached call document and application guide. The deadline for submission of applications to the host institutions, for approval by Designated Authorities (DAs) is 02 October 2015. 

Please Note: 
Institutional DAs must validate all applications no later than 16 October 2015. Institutions are required to set their own internal closing dates, so as to enable validation by institutional DAs prior to submission to the NRF. 

Should you have any queries with regards to the call requirements or application procedure, please contact an NRF contact person listed below: 

Ms Zikhona Lose:

Professional Officer - Grants Management and Systems Administration (GMSA). Telephone: 012 481 4365. E-mail: zikhona.lose@nrf.ac.za <mailto:zikhona.lose@nrf.ac.za> 

Ms Nompumelelo Thwala:

Professional Officer - Human and Infrastructure Capacity Development (HICD). Telephone: 012 481 4232. E-mail: nompumelelo.thwala@nrf.ac.za <mailto:nompumelelo.thwala@nrf.ac.za> 

Developing critical skills to influence quality of academics in Africa

University faculty and administration staff are key to the production of quality PhD graduates. These staff need to acquire specific skill-sets critical in supporting growth and development of post-graduate studies in order to realize quality graduates. For this reason, the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), held a 3-day Faculty and Administrators’ Staff (FAS) workshop from July 27-29, 2015. Hosted by the University of Nairobi, Kenya, the workshop was attended by over 100 participants drawn from CARTA participating institutions across sub-Saharan Africa.

CARTA, through the FAS workshops, aims to give faculty and administration staff an understanding and awareness of the skills required to effectively supervise research. Apart from offering a foundation for the specific skills needed to fund, manage, disseminate and commercially exploit scientific research, FAS workshops also train participants on managing international and multidisciplinary research projects.

“FAS workshops are organized by CARTA to equip the faculty staff members with necessary skills in research, grant writing, research governance and other skills they need in their day to day work and that enable them to smoothly support the operationalization of the program activities at their various institutions. This is part of our institutional strengthening support offered by CARTA to participating institutions,” said Prof. Peter Ngure, representing Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi, Director of Research, APHRC, at the opening of the workshop. Prof. Ngure is the CARTA Program Manager.

FAS workshops seeks to promote quality and effective research as well as build a strong research culture, and financial and information management systems in research in Africa. The participants are trained to become change agents within their institutions and act as catalysts for the program. Further, FAS offers the participants a networking opportunity for them to share insights on common challenges facing their institutions and to also share best practices of what has worked in trying to counter the challenges from their institutional points of view.

“We are happy to note that CARTA has not just been leading collaborative PhD training but also ensured that available resources for training faculty and administrators are pooled together and have this training of international repute come to fruition,” said  Prof. Peter Mbithi, Vice Chancellor, University of Nairobi adding, “I have no doubt that every one of the participants seated here today, will have the right impetus to be change agents in their universities by contributing to quality research in their own way.”

FAS was first held in Nairobi in 2011 and has seen over 350 participants trained on issues in research management and governance, use of information technology, supervision and mentoring of graduate students, grant writing, and knowledge management. Because of the huge improvement in post-graduate training support offered by the previous FAS participants, CARTA is convinced of the importance of FAS workshops. This is why the 6th workshop was held this year.  As a result of the FAS workshop, librarians who attended the last FAS workshop managed to come together and jointly author a paper that was published in a peer reviewed journal, a practice that is rare amongst faculty staff of any institutions if it does exist. 

The participants at the 6th FAS workshop came from several countries in sub-Saharan Africa. These included South Africa, Uganda, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya

2015 ADDRF FELLOWSHIPS FOR DOCTORAL RESEARCH ON HIV/AIDS PREVENTION AND VACCINE TRIALS IN WEST AFRICA

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), in partnership with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), is pleased to announce a call for applications for doctoral fellowships in HIV/AIDS prevention and vaccine trials in West Africa. These fellowships are expected to contribute to the creation of sustainable capacity and leadership to conduct HIV/AIDS prevention trials with special focus on innovations in HIV/AIDS prevention technologies, particularly HIV vaccines in the following countries: Benin, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria and Senegal.

The ADDRF Program will award up to seven (7) fellowships in 2015 to doctoral students who are citizens or residents of a West African (ECOWAS) country AND who are affiliated to an institution in Benin, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, or Senegal. Research themes for these awards are open to a range of disciplines, such as biomedical research, epidemiology, or social and behavioral sciences, as long as their focus remains HIV/AIDS prevention and vaccine trials. These fellowships will be awarded to doctoral students who are within two years of completing their thesis and whose research shows great promise of making cutting-edge contributions to HIV prevention and policy issues in the region.

The application form and supporting documents should be submitted in a single email to2015addrf@aphrc.org
For questions, please contact:
The ADDRF Manager, E-mail: 2015addrf@aphrc.org
Telephone: 254 20 400 1000: Cell: +254 722 205-933 / 720 098-388 / 733 410-102; Fax: +254 20 400 1101

Details of the call are available here:

• 2015 ADDRF Fellowships for Doctoral Research on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Vaccine Trials in West Africa
• Application Form 
• Budget Template
• Timeline to Completion

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2015 Bourses de Doctorat (ADDRF) pour la Prévention et les Essais Cliniques de Vaccins contre le VIH / SIDA en Afrique de l’Ouest

African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), avec l’appui du Centre de Recherche pour le Développement International (CRDI) a le plaisir de lancer  un appel à candidatures pour les bourses de doctorat en prévention du VIH/SIDA et essais cliniques de vaccins contre le VIH / SIDA en Afrique de l’Ouest. Ces bourses sont censées contribuer à la création de capacités durables et de leadership pour mener la prévention et les essais cliniques de vaccin contre le VIH / SIDA avec un accent particulier sur les innovations dans les technologies de prévention du VIH / SIDA, en particulier les vaccins contre le VIH dans les pays suivants: le Bénin, la Gambie, la Guinée-Bissau, le Nigéria et le Sénégal.

Le Programme ADDRF attribuera jusqu’à sept (7) bourses en 2015 aux doctorants qui sont citoyens ou résidents de pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest (pays de la CEDEAO) et qui sont affiliés à une institution dans les pays suivants le Bénin, la Gambie, la Guinée-Bissau, le Nigéria et le Sénégal. Cet appel est ouvert à un large éventail de disciplines telles que la recherche biomédicale, l’épidémiologie, les sciences sociales et comportementales, du moment que l’objectif de la recherche reste la prévention du VIH/SIDA et les essais cliniques de vaccins contre le VIH / SIDA. Ces bourses seront attribuées à des étudiants en doctorat à qui il reste tout au plus deux ans pour soutenir leurs thèses et dont la recherche montre un potentiel de contribution de haute qualité aux politiques de prévention du VIH dans la région.

Le formulaire de demande et les pièces justificatives  doivent être soumis dans un simple email à 2015addrf@aphrc.org. Pour toute question, veuillez contacter: ADDRF Manager, Courrier électronique: 2015addrf@aphrc.org / Téléphone cellulaire: +254 722 205-933 / 720 098-388 / 733 410-102; Télécopier: +254 20 400 1101

Détails

• 2015 Bourses de Doctorat (ADDRF) pour la Prévention et les Essais Cliniques de Vaccins contre le VIH / SIDA en Afrique de l’Ouest

• Fiche de Candidature
• Budget Template
• Timeline to Completion