More PhD scholarships in applied sciences to be awarded

The African continent and its universities need more high-quality researchers and innovators – not just male, but female scientists, too, said Dr Moses Osiru, manager of the regional coordination unit of the Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF), during a virtual conference on 16 November themed ‘African-led science, technology and innovation for contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals and stimulating global development’.

The conference was organised by RSIF’s regional coordination unit, the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in collaboration with the University Mohammed VI Polytechnic, a partnership institution, and the Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET).

The RSIF programme, which was initiated in 2015, is financially supported and led by African governments through PASET.

Nine African countries, together with partnership support from the European Union, Korea and the World Bank, are now directly contributing to RSIF, PASET’s flagship programme, while several others are in the process of joining.

It has continued to support many PhD students across the African continent, including support for high-quality PhDs and to strengthen the capacity of Sub-Saharan African universities for high-quality doctoral training, research, and innovation.

Osiru stated that, up to the present date, 184 PhD students from 21 countries have been awarded scholarships, with a further 100 expected in the fourth cohort in January 2022.

A total of 19 international partner institutions interested in undertaking research focused on African challenges have been identified, and the best 15 African host university PhD programmes, aligned with PASET priority areas, have been selected.

Additionally, 14 research and innovation grants, with a further 23 in the process of the award, that focus on transforming universities towards a larger role in stimulating innovation by using knowledge for profit, in partnership with the private sector, have been awarded.

“Our strategy for strengthening the universities is based on regional integration and international partnerships, including with the private sector,” said Professor Aminata Sall Diallo, the executive director of the PASET executive board.

“This is why PASET has also carefully selected international partner institutions across the world, offering research internship opportunities for our RSIF PhD scholars and long-term research collaboration with African universities.

“All of us recognise that building our higher education systems is critical for the future and a regional initiative like PASET, with oversight from African governments and technical support from the World Bank, was set up to do just that.”

She noted that the governments of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Tanzania are actively involved with PASET and investments in RSIF programmes.

Focus on women

Safaa El-Kogali, the education practice manager for Eastern and Southern Africa at the World Bank, noted that the RSIF programme is intentional in its efforts to promote the participation of women in postgraduate programmes as one of the key objectives to reduce the imbalances in the number of women in science and technology fields closely linked with the World Bank group gender strategy toward 2023.

“For the RSIF, over 40% of the PhD scholars are women, and I also understand that ICIPE is striving to adopt appropriate measures to ensure female students are retained in the programme and complete their PhDs,” she said.

“We can do more to increase these numbers and reach at least a target of 50% female scholars, as described in the RSIF gender strategy, as we spearhead increasing the scientific capacity in Africa.”

She explained that, for continued impact and for the sustainability of the initiative, resource mobilisation is crucial to continue the RSIF funding programme through investment agencies as well as private-sector partners.

“The World Bank is committed to the skills development agenda in Africa as well as promoting the increase in applied research output that addresses development challenges in the region,” she added.

“Since 2015, we have been supporting governments in Sub-Saharan Africa in implementing 49 technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and higher education projects, at an estimated US$4.8 billion, which is about 43% of our global funding in the TVET and higher education sub-sectors.

“I list all the above to say that the World Bank considers the agenda seriously, and will continue to support African governments through both national and regional level efforts, through initiatives such as RSIF.”