Deadline: October 10, 2021
Applications are open for the African Union Commission/United States Department of Agriculture Scientific Exchanges Program 2021. The Scientific Exchanges Program (SEP) supports USDA’s agricultural research goals of promoting collaborative programs among agricultural professionals of eligible countries, agricultural professionals of the United States, the international agricultural research system, and U.S. entities conducting research. SEP is implemented by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, Global Programs, Fellowship Programs.
The SEP Fellowships in general was created to operationalize the joint effort of the AU and USDA to promote food security and economic growth in eligible countries by educating a new generation of agricultural scientists, increasing scientific knowledge and collaborative research to improve agricultural productivity, and extending that knowledge to users and intermediaries in the marketplace.
The collaborative nature of the SEP training and research programs benefits the fellow, his or her home institution, and partner country; the U.S. host institution, its professors, researchers, and students; and the global agricultural sector by improving agricultural productivity, systems, and processes in partnering nations through the transfer of new science and agricultural technologies.
Eligibility
- Open to a citizen of a country in the AU.
- Good reading, writing, and speaking skills in English language.
- Master’s degree or higher with at least two years of practical experience (minimum).
- Currently employed by a university, research institution, or other scientific institution in a country in the AU.
- Intention to continue working in a country of the AU for a minimum of two years following the return from the United States.
- Researcher with a clear connection to SPS regulatory regimes, who can adapt lessons learned from the U.S. SPS regulatory model at both national and state levels.
- Proposal directly related to the research topic.
Application
Application materials include:
- Paper Application form.
- Program proposal and research action plan.
- Signed approval from applicant’s home institution.
- Two letters of recommendation (academic and professional preferred).
- Copies of diploma(s) for college/university degree(s) received.
- Copy of passport identification page.
Submit applications by email to Cara Conley via [email protected], cc. Joyce West [email protected], at the USDA Offices in Washington, DC and Diana Akullo via [email protected].
Applications must be received on or before October 10, 2021. If applicable, in person or Skype interviews with applicants are tentatively scheduled to take place in September/October 2021. Final selection of participants will be made by a FAS/USDA committee in Washington, D.C.
For more information, visit AUC/USDA.
