Mawazo Institute Welcomes African Women to Apply for the Mawazo PhD Scholars Program

Up to 6 female Ph.D. students studying at Kenyan universities will be supported by the Mawazo PhD Scholars Program, a one-year, non-residential fellowship focused on empowering women. The main focus of the fellowship is to create a strong pipeline of future researchers who are prepared to debate and communicate the results to the government and industry leaders and the general public. While eligible applicants are all women, the fellowship allows women from any discipline to submit their application. However, the applicants must have a preference for research projects focused on development-related topics using social science research methods.

A full list regarding the eligibility criteria

As mentioned in the previous paragraphs, applicants must be women under the age of 40 and citizens of an African country. The fellowship allows women from any department at a Kenyan university. Hence, regardless of the studied discipline, women applicants are invited to submit their candidacy. Applicants must also know that they will be working on or about to begin working on an academic research project related to Africa’s development. The project is intended for publication. Another aspect which applicants must take in consideration is that they will have to travel to Nairobi at least two times per month for the rest of 2018.

The benefits offered

As previously mentioned, up to 6 female Ph.D. students will be supported by the fellowship receiving the following benefits:

• A research grant worth Ksh 500,000 on average – the value depends on the amount needed for each research project;
• Training in research methods, academic writing, grant writing, public engagement, and the publication process;
• Travel grants;
• A desk at Mawazo’s office at Spring Valley, Nairobi, Ikigai;
• Connection to mentors and industry leaders.

Female Ph.D. students who find the Fellowship program suitable for them and think they have the necessary skills to apply can start submitting their candidacy. Their applications must be submitted through an online portal which can be accessed here https://mawazoinstitute.wufoo.com/forms/mawazo-phd-scholars-application-2018/. Incomplete applications will not be considered or applications sent via e-mail or in hard copy. The closing date for the Fellowship is 11.59 pm EAT on Friday 2^nd of February 2018.

We wish everyone the best of luck with the admission process!