MFN Fellowship Programme 2017 for Young African Researchers (Funded)

Deadline: December 7, 2017

The Matasa Fellows Network is pleased to announce the opening of applications for their Fellowship Programme. Eight fellowships will be awarded in 2017. This follows on from the successful 2016 fellowship cohort where the Network awarded 10 fellowships and successfully supported each fellow to develop research relevant to policy and practice.

Launched in 2015, the Matasa Fellows Network seeks to develop a cohort of young African researchers with the skills and commitment to engage in policy-oriented research around the challenges of young people and employment in Africa. Its aim is to contribute to the development of outstanding young researchers who will ultimately become established policy researchers in their chosen fields.

Each successful applicant will receive academic support and a small bursary to produce a high quality synthesis paper and a policy brief relating to the broad theme of Youth Employment and Private Sector Growth in Africa. Under this theme, research contributions will critically explore a selection from the following themes:

• Private sector growth
• Education and training
• Digital technologies
• Family and gender relations
• Infrastructure, energy and engineering sectors growth
• Young people as citizens and/or young people in policy processes
• Conflict affected settings
• Migration and/or stretched livelihoods
• Financial inclusion
• Imagined futures

Fellowship

• A bursary of £3,000 will be provided to each selected fellow, and all costs to participate in two workshops (one in the UK and one in Africa) will be covered.

Eligibility

Fellowship is open to African nationals who:

• Are 40 years old or younger at the time of application;
• Have completed a PhD within last two years or are in the final stages of completing a PhD;
• Have background in social science, economics, agricultural economics, policy studies, development studies, agricultural or environmental sciences;
• Are fluent in English;
• Are able to travel to the UK in February 2018 for a one-week workshop.

Application

• Applications can be submitted using the online form;
• Receipt of completed applications will be acknowledged by email on submission. Shortlisted applicants will be contacted after the closing date, and may be required to provide further information about their chosen research topic.

For more information, visit MFN Fellowship Programme.