African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) Masters and PhD Fellowships for African Students 2017/2018

Application Deadline:  12th May, 2017

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: AERC has received grants from the African Development Fund (the Bank) and the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), and intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of these grants to offer Masters and PhD Bridge Programme Fellowships to applicants from the following under-represented countries and groups:

• Anglophone Countries: Eritrea,  Sierra Leone, Liberia, Lesotho, Somalia, South Sudan, Swaziland, The Gambia
• Francophone Countries: Burundi, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo,  Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Togo
• Lusophone Countries:  Angola, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique

To be taken at (universities): Partner universities

Fields of Study: Every year, AERC offers scholarships to students from sub-Saharan Africa, admitted into any of the following three training programmes, implemented in a collaborative framework with network and other partner universities:

• The Collaborative Masters Programme (CMAP) in Economics, which spans departments of economics in 26 public universities in Anglophone Africa (excluding Nigeria);
• The Collaborative Masters in Agricultural and Applied Economics (CMAAE) Programme, which is spearheaded by departments of agricultural economics in 17 public universities in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa; and
• The Collaborative PhD Programme (CPP) in Economics, which brings together eight (8) participating universities in Anglophone and Francophone sub-Saharan Africa.

About the Award: Participants are expected to take up to eight weeks (two months) of intensive skill enhancement in the three courses (four courses for CMAAE) at a joint facility in Nairobi, Kenya, and to sit examinations during the final week of the programme. Students who successfully complete the bridge programme will form a pool to be enrolled into the CMAP, CMAAE and CPP, or the Francophone Nouveau Programme de Troisième Cycle Inter-universitaire (NPTCI) Masters Programme.

AERC training programmes have played a big role in producing a pool of better-trained economists in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there are countries and groups (including women and post-conflict and fragile states) that are under-represented in the research and training activities of AERC. This is due to participants from these countries and groups lacking requisite skills to effectively transit in AERC training programmes without cannibalizing on the high value these programmes have created over the years.

Type: Postgraduate (Masters and PhD) Scholarship

Number of Awardees: Not specified 

Eligibility: Since it is expected that students who successfully complete the bridge programme would enroll into CMAP, CMAAE, CPP or NPTCI Masters Programme, a key requirement for admission into the bridge programme is admissibility of the applicant into any of these programmes. Rules and regulations of the respective CMAP, CMAAE, CPP and NPTCI universities governing admission of students into the degree programmes shall, therefore, apply. However, the following criteria shall apply as a minimum requirement for selection of the Masters and PhD bridge programme students:

• Applicants for the Masters bridge programme fellowships must have attained at least a second class honours (upper division) Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness Management and Agricultural Sciences or related field;
• In addition to at least an upper second class (or equivalent) first degree in Economics, Agricultural Economics or related field, applicants for the PhD bridge programme fellowships must have a Master’s degree in Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics or related fields (with compulsory course work coverage of Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Econometrics/Quantitative Methods, and a research project/thesis component) from a recognized institution;
• Applicants of either Masters or PhD bridge programme fellowships must be citizens of any of the under-represented countries listed in the table above; (iv) Female applicants are encouraged to apply

Duration of Fellowship: up to eight weeks (two months)

How to Apply: Interested applicants are required to submit their applications for bridge programme fellowship to the AERC Director of Training by attaching the following documents and sending them to following email address: training@aercafrica.org, copied to: tom.kimani@aercafrica.org and mark.korir@aercafrica.org:

1. Application cover letter specifying which fellowship (Masters or PhD Bridge Programme you are applying for;
2. Certified copies of transcripts and certificates;
3. At least two original letters of recommendation from senior university academics who previously taught the applicant; and
4. Curriculum Vitae;

The application letter should be referenced “Application for Masters/PhD Bridge Programme Fellowship.”

In addition, applicants are required to upload the above-listed application documents on to the AERC scholarship portal http://scholarships.aercafrica.org

Visit Fellowship Webpage for details

Award Provider: African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), Government of Kenya.