Carnegie grant for postgraduate training in Africa

A US$2.6 million grant to support the training of postgraduate students in population sciences and public health in 10 universities across Africa has been made by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

The donation is to CARTA – the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa – a collaborative initiative between the African Population and Health Research Center in Nairobi and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

Aside from supporting postgraduate training, the 36-month project will help to raise research capacity in the two fields and will support the recruitment of doctoral candidates from among university academics.

It will offer 25 PhD scholarships in the 2014-15 academic year to African scholars teaching in any of the universities that form the CARTA network, with women being particularly encouraged to apply.

CARTA comprises nine African universities, four research institutes and seven academic institutions in the global North. Its funders include Carnegie, the Ford and MacArthur foundations, the Wellcome Trust and the British Council Development Partnerships in Higher Education.

Other institutions involved include the universities of Moi and Nairobi in Kenya, Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo in Nigeria, Makerere in Uganda, Dar es Salaam and the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania, the National University of Rwanda and the University of Malawi.

Postgraduate candidates selected must be able to undertake programmes in any of the listed institutions, even if they are not teaching in them. They must also be able to complete their course within four years.

“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,” the network said on its website.

The fellowships will cover the costs of tuition fees and medical insurance, participation in 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 of participating in joint programme activities.

Partner institutions will continue paying fellows’ salaries and modify workloads so that they may fully participate in CARTA-organised activities pertaining to their PhD programme and concentrate on their studies.

“This programme 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,” said a statement announcing the grant.

Candidates will be selected by the end of September, and will participate in a joint advanced seminar to expose them to key theories and concepts, readings and research methods in disciplines relevant to public and population health.

The seminars will also help train students in critical research skills to build and maintain a network of researchers for collaborations, professional support and exchange of scientific resources.

The PhD candidates will conduct research in partnership with CARTA-linked institutes including the African Population and Health Research Center in Kenya, the Agincourt Health and Population Unit in South Africa, the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania and the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kenya.