Call for Applications: PhD Visiting Fellowships Programme (VFP) 2024

Under this programme successful candidates will be provided with the opportunity to participate in a fellowship programme which ideally combines online pre- and post-activities with a study period of 3 months at University of Johannesburg (UJ) in South Africa. The three months’ study visit to UJ is, however, subject to availability of funding and interested students are expected to help search for funds to finance their study visit at UJ themselves.

Mentoring will be provided by a range of African and international scholars in Innovation and Development studies who are research active in AfricaLics and Globelics. The programme will also receive support from the Trilateral Research Chair in Transformative Innovation, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Sustainable Development (TRCTI).

The 2024 VFP cohort activities will kick off with a range of online activities starting in February 2024 and activities are expected to be completed by the end of November/early December 2024. Activities will include a brief introduction to I&D studies as the AfricaLics network identifies this field, a course on writing skills and a course on ‘How to write an Academic Journal Article as well as 3 – 5 Paper Presentation Seminars. Activities will be online, but if funds permit, a 3-month study visit to UJ will also be incorporated. After engagement in the programme, students are offered the opportunity to continue engaging with the AfricaLics community e.g. through participation in AfricaLics Alumni activities, AfricaLics research conferences and the webinar series. In this way, students and young scholars help each other stay engaged and get a chance to help develop the field of African Innovation and Development studies.

Scholars in the field may have a background in economics and/or other social sciences (e.g. Sociology, Political Science, Science and Technology Policy, Geography, History or Development Studies), but some also work within the STEM (science, technology, engineering or mathematics) subjects or even manufacturing. They work within a broad range of areas including energy and sustainable development/transformation, health, gender, agriculture, manufacturing and work organisation, big data and the fourth industrial revolution.

Thematic Areas

• Geopolitics and governance of innovation
• Innovation and competence building for sustainable industrialization
• Inclusive innovation and development
• Types and forms of research training

Overall Aim and Organisation of the Programme

• The aim of the visiting fellowship programme and the scholarships is to help African PhD students working in the field of Innovation and Development to strengthen their academic/research qualifications; improve quality of their dissertations and prepare for a career in innovation and development either within academia or outside (e.g. in the private sector or in government/policy making).
• The visiting fellowship programme does this by increasing the mobility and level of exposure of the PhD students to international knowledge in the field of innovation and development. The programme forms part of the efforts by AfricaLics to contribute to the development of a vibrant research community in Africa in this emerging and highly multidisciplinary field.  The Swedish Development Agency, Sida (Stockholm), has provided for the visiting scholarships as part of the project Enhancing research capacity on Innovation and Development in Africa through the African Network on Learning, Innovation and Competence Building Systems (AfricaLics) – Phase II since 2015 and will continue to support the VFP also in 2024 although support will be at a reduced level.

Accommodation and Workspace

• If funding for the study visit to UJ is secured either by an individual participant in the 2024 VFP cohort or by the AfricaLics secretariat/network as part of collective fundraising efforts, the AfricaLics secretariat and staff at UJ will help organise accommodation during the study visit in Johannesburg. The accommodation will be near the business school campus of Johannesburg where the students will have their working space.
• Terms and Conditions:
  • Return flight costs from your nearest international airport (economy class) to Johannesburg may be covered by AfricaLics if collective fund-raising efforts for the study visit there are successful. The costs may also be covered by the students themselves if they are able to raise funds.
  • Students must take out their own health insurance for the study period. Costs may be reimbursed by the AfricaLics secretariat if funding allows.
  • If collective fund-raising efforts are successful, the visiting scholars will receive a stipend of app. $600 per month. This amount should cover all costs while in Johannesburg related to living expenses and travel around Johannesburg including to and from UJ campus. Students are encouraged to try to fund-raise for living costs while in Johannesburg themselves as they cannot guarantee that collective fundraising activities are successful.
  • Joint courses and online mentoring activities will be covered by AfricaLics through the limited support from Sida that they will be receiving in 2024. Visit by home supervisors and mentors to Johannesburg for a PhD VFP workshop will only be realised if additional fundraising is successful.
  • If AfricaLics accepts to fund the three-month study visit to Johannesburg, the scholarship will only cover costs related to the visit of the student her- or himself. Costs related to accompanying spouses, children or others are unfortunately not possible for the programme to cover.  The scholarship does not cover costs of any additional travel in South Africa that the student may wish to undertake unless as part of selected and approved VFP activities.

The Study Period

• The visiting scholarship provides successful PhD students with the opportunity to engage in several online activities including a course on writing skills and a course on ‘How to write an Academic Journal Article’ and up to 5 paper presentation seminars during the study period which runs from 1st February 2024 to 15th December 2024. During the study period, students will be offered the opportunity to participate in the AfricaLics PhD Academy, which takes place either in May or June each year and which is expected to be a physical event in 2024, but may turn into a virtual event, if fund-raising for a physical PhD academy are not successful.
• The study period at UJ, if realised, will provide students with time off from duties in their home country to focus on consolidating and improving their research, analysing data collected from fieldwork and writing up articles or chapters for their PhD thesis. Students will also do presentations of their project work and benefit from interaction with other visiting fellows and PhD students working on innovation and development issues scholars at UJ-TRCTI. Funding allowing, they will organise for home supervisors and mentors to meet up with their students during a one-week VFP workshop in Johannesburg, where focus will be on tools for better PhD supervision and alignment of views between students, home supervisors on mentors on the direction that the work of each PhD student should take.
• During the fellowship period, each student will be “matched” with one or two scholars with competences in the field in which the student is active. These matched scholars will act as mentors for the PhD visiting fellows. In this way, the AfricaLics Visiting Fellowship Programme help build research capabilities in the field of Innovation and Development drawing on internationally renowned scholars in the field. Final selection of mentors depends on the topic and background of successful applicants. Mentors for the 2024 will be volunteers from the AfricaLics and Globelics network but may receive a small remuneration for their participation in the AfricaLics VFP activities in 2024, if funding allows.
• Participation in the AfricaLics PhD Visiting Programme should form part of the PhD workplan for each applicant, which typically will include various elements such as:
  • Initial theoretical studies/taught courses and fieldwork in home country/country where the student is enrolled as a PhD student (first year must have been concluded by December 2023).
  • Participation in online AfricaLics VFP courses and seminars (introduction seminar, writing courses, paper presentation seminars, and wrap-up activities).
  • Participation in exchange or mobility enhancing programmes – this may or may not include a three-month study visit to UJ to focus on writing up thesis or articles that are part of the PhD thesis (as noted above this study visit is subject to fund-raising either by the student her- or himself or by AfricaLics).
  • Participation in the 2024 AfricaLics PhD Academy (online or on-site, subject to funding). PhD candidates are responsible for applying for participation in the 2024 AfricaLics PhD academy subject to agreement with their home-supervisors, mentors and the AfricaLics PhD VFP academic coordinator. Students may also apply to participate in other PhD courses or academies such as e.g. those organised by the parent network, Globelics (see globelics.org).
  • AfricaLics PhD visiting fellows are encouraged to work on and submit papers to up-coming relevant conferences such as e.g. the AfricaLics Conference 2024 and the Globelics conference 2025. Participation in such activities provides exposure to the wider Globelics/AfricaLics community. It is the responsibility of the PhD candidates themselves to apply for participation in such events and AfricaLics cannot promise to fund travel costs but may do this on a case to case basis if funding allows.
  • Return to home country and continue work on PhD dissertation to finalize and submit according to rules and regulations at the university where the student is enrolled.
• The visiting fellowship period includes both online activities before and after the three months of study visit to UJ, but they also encourage students to remain engaged with the AfricaLics network after the fellowship period as AfricaLics alumni and participants in AfricaLics events.

Student Requirements and Application Form

• Applicants for the AfricaLics PhD visiting fellowship programme should:
  • Be enrolled as a PhD student at a university in Africa.
  • Have completed their first year of studies by December 2023
  • Have a background (BSc, MSc etc.) within Economics, Sociology, Political Science, Science and Technology Policy, Geography, History or Development Studies. Applicants may also work within the STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) subjects or even manufacturing but from a social science perspective.
  • Possess adequate skills in English (documentation may be requested).
  • Be working actively on a subject relevant to the field of innovation and development as defined above.
  • Submit a brief application of one page/500 words explaining their own background, motivation for applying and expected outcomes of participation in the AfricaLics PhD visiting fellowship programme
• The application must be accompanied by the following documents:
  • Brief outline of your current PhD project including PhD training plans (max. 5 pages)
  • Curriculum Vitae – CV (including PhD courses attended so far)
  • Letter of support from the main PhD supervisor confirming that the PhD student will have completed her/his upgrade/probation by end December 2023
  • Letter of support from the University Administration at the university where the PhD student is enrolled
  • Copies of academic certificates (copies of Bachelor and Master Certificates as a minimum)
  • One writing sample (article or chapter) from current PhD program

Eligibility Criteria

• The scholarship option is open to PhD students from countries classified by the OECD/DAC as low and lower-middle income countries in Africa whose studies – irrespective of sectoral discipline – focus on the relationship between innovation and economic, social or and environmentally sustainable development. Female PhD students are particularly encouraged to apply as AfricaLics endeavours to contribute to increasing the currently low number of female scholars in Innovation and Development research studies in Africa. Likewise, PhD students from low-income countries are particularly encouraged to apply as AfricaLics endeavours to increase research capacity in Innovation and Development in low-income countries in Africa.
• The programme gives priority to students working on topics related to the research themes identified by the AfricaLics network as important to the future of Africa.

For more information, visit AfricaLics.