Postdoctoral and PhD Fellowships in Demography, Human Capital, and Sustainable Development

The project will apply multi-dimensional demographic modelling to analyse how near-term investments in education translate into long-term improvements in human capital. This research will assess the implications for health, gender equity, poverty reduction, and resilience to environmental change.

Benefits

• Supervision: Mentorship by internationally renowned demographers and development economists.
• International Exposure: Participation in training activities at IIASA (Vienna, Austria) and high-level science-to-policy workshops across Africa.
• Skills Development: Training in demographic modeling for analyzing human capital formation and its broader impacts.

Funding Information

• Financial support for up to three years at UCT’s competitive rates, up to a maximum of R315,000 for PhD and R534,000 for Postdoctoral Fellowships per annum (as per the UCT and SARS limit in 2025), and does not include any fringe benefits.

Eligibility Criteria

• They are looking for young scholars from across Sub-Saharan Africa, whether currently based on the continent or elsewhere, with strong quantitative skills and a commitment to using rigorous scientific research to inform policy-making.
  • Postdoctoral Fellowships applicants must:
    • Hold a PhD (awarded within the last 1-5 years) in demography, statistics, economics, or another quantitative social sci ence discipline.
    • Have experience working with large-scale datasets and quantitative models.
    • Demonstrate strong STATA or R programming skills.
    • Show an ability to disseminate research findings to academic and policy audiences.
    • Have at least two working papers, with published journal articles being an advantage.
    • A background in quantitative education policy research is desirable but not required.
    • Have not previously held comprehensive professional or permanent academic positions.
  • PhD Scholarships applicants must:
    • Hold a Master’s degree in demography, statistics, economics, or a related quantitative social science field.
    • Demonstrate strong quantitative skills and statistical software proficiency.
    • Show interest in research on education, human capital, and sustainable development.

Application Requirements

• Applicants are required to submit:
  • A letter of application outlining research interests and motivation.
  • A CV, including details of conference presentations, working papers, and publications (if applicable).
  • Academic transcripts for all degrees.
  • Three academic reference letters.

For more information, visit SALDRU.