CARTA PhD Fellowships for African Researchers 2017/2018

Application Deadline: 1st May, 2017 

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: All African countries

To be taken at (country): Below is a list of Universities and host countries

Participating African Universities:

1. Makerere University, Uganda.
2. Moi University, Kenya.
3. Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria.
4. University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
5. University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
6. University of Malawi, Malawi..
7. University of Nairobi, Kenya.
8. University of Rwanda, Rwanda.
9. University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Participating Research Institutes:

1. African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), Kenya.
2. Agincourt Health and Population Unit, South Africa.
3. Ifakara Health Institute (IHI), Tanzania
4. KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya.
5. INDEPTH Network

Northern Partners:

1. Brown University, USA.
2. Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research (CCGHR), Canada.
3. Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), Switzerland.
4. Umeå University, Sweden.
5. University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
6. University of Warwick, UK.

Eligible Field(s) of Study: Public and Population health related fields such as public health, demography, anthropology, communication, and economics.

About the Award: 

CARTA is currently offering a collaborative doctoral training program in public and population health. This program has been developed in response to the great challenges faced by Africa’s institutions of higher education in addressing the training and retention of the next generation of academics in the region. Women are particularly encouraged to apply.

Specifically, CARTA seeks to fund candidates who will be future leaders in their institutions; that is, young, capable, and committed individuals who, in time, will ensure that their universities will be the institutions of choice for future generations of academics and university administrators wishing to make a positive impact on public and population health in Africa.

Successful applicants will attend CARTA’s innovative series of Joint Advanced Seminars (JAS) for cohorts of doctoral students admitted and registered in the participating African universities. Both the development and delivery of these courses are jointly-led by regional and international experts. The seminars consist of didactic sessions, discussions, demonstrations, and practice labs. These activities collectively serve to:

1. Expose students to key theories and concepts, seminal readings, and research methods of disciplines relevant to public and population health;
2. Train students in critical research skills; and
3. Build and maintain a network of researchers for scientific collaborations, professional support, and mutually beneficial exchange of scientific resources

Type: PhD Research Fellowship

Eligibility:

• Male applicants must be under the age of 40 years and female applicants under the age 45 years.
• A Masters degree in a relevant field.
• Prior admission into admission into a PhD program is not required for application but awards are contingent on such admission being obtained at one of the participating African universities.
• Applicants for this program must be teaching or research staff at one of the participating African institutions and should be committed to contributing towards building capacity at their institutions.
• Applicants’ PhD research proposal must be related to public and population health.
• Fellowships are only open to people who have not yet registered for a PhD or are in the very early stages (first year) of the PhD program.
• Applicants must commit to participation in all four annual residential Joint Advanced Seminars (JASes), and to engage in inter-seminar activities designed to keep fellows actively engaged and in continual communication with peers and mentors.

Number of Awards: Up to 25 PhD fellowships

Value of Award: Value of fellowship includes the cost of fellows’ participation in the advanced seminars; a modest monthly stipend; small grants for research activities; a laptop loaded with relevant software; funds for travel to conferences, as well as costs for participating in joint program activities. Fellows are encouraged to seek supplemental funding to cover additional costs of their doctoral program.

Duration of Scholarship: Four (4) years

How to Apply:

1. Contact the CARTA focal person) at your institution to discuss your interest and obtain application materials. Application forms may also be downloaded from the CARTA website (www.cartafrica.org)
2. Submit your application to the local CARTA committee in your institution (also email a copy of all application materials to (carta@aphrc.org ), which will conduct the initial screening process and submit successful applications to the CARTA secretariat. The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2017.
3. If successful at the university selection level, the CARTA secretariat will inform and contact you to proceed to the next level
4. Successful applicants at the university selection level will be expected to:

• Complete an online-based pre-JAS, Part I tasks
• A competency course (May 15, 2017 – June 15, 2017)
• Send a full application to the CARTA secretariat.  The deadline for submission of the full application is June 15, 2017.

Final fellowship decision, which is independent of the university application, will be communicated by CARTA secretariat by November 1, 2017.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award Provider: The Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa