The Guest Scholarship Programme for post-doctoral research in Sweden

The programme aims at strengthening and developing research relevant to capacity building and fighting poverty in programme countries. An estimated 20 scholarships will be offered for the academic year 2014/2015.

The scholarship application call for the academic year 2014/2015 is now open. Application deadline is 24:00 CET, Wednesday, 15 January 2014.

Countries

The programme is targeted at candidates from the following countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Target group

The programme provides researchers with a PhD degree with an opportunity to conduct research at Swedish universities and research institutes. Priority will be given to applicants with a PhD degree from 2009 or later.

Duration of scholarship

The scholarships will be granted for long-term visits (6, 9 or 12 months) during the academic year 2014/2015 (1 September 2014 to 31 August 2015).

Fields of research

The following disciplines only are eligible during this call for applications:

• Agricultural Sciences
• Natural Sciences
• Technology
• Environmental Science related to Agricultural Sciences or Natural Sciences or Technology

The next call for applications for the academic year 2015/2016 will be open for the following disciplines only:

• Business and Social Sciences
• Health and Medicine
• Environmental Science related to Social Sciences

Scholarship benefits

The scholarship amounts to SEK 18,000 per month. The scholarship includes one travel grant of SEK 15,000 and insurance coverage. The scholarship cannot be prolonged or extended.

SI Network for Future Global Leaders

All Swedish Institute scholarship holders are invited to become members of the SI Network for Future Global Leaders; a network which offers unique opportunities during and after the stay in Sweden. Together with other talented people from all around the world, the scholarship holder is invited to take part in a variety of events, exchange ideas and create networks which benefit both career and personal development.

Who is eligible?

The scholarships are intended for holders of a PhD degree within any of the above-mentioned disciplines eligible for 2014/2015 for full-time research in Sweden. The applicant is not eligible for this scholarship if any of the following is true:

• Has already lived in Sweden for two or more years when the scholarship period is due to begin.
• Already has a Swedish permanent residence permit.

Applicants who have previously been awarded a scholarship from SI for study or research at a Swedish university will not be given priority.

Selection criteria and areas of priority

Applications are evaluated by the Swedish Institute and an academic board. The primary evaluation of the application takes into account the applicant’s academic background and personal motivation, research quality and expertise in the project field of the host department. Also the strength of the research proposal with regard to its scientific quality, originality, methodological approach, and relevance is evaluated. In the final selection of candidates SI will consider the distribution of scholarships with regards to academic fields, universities, purpose of study, nationality and gender.

The application should clearly state how your research project can contribute to the development in your country.

Insurance

Scholarship holders are insured by the Swedish State Group Insurance against illness and accident during the scholarship period.

Scholarship limitations

• The scholarship is designed to cover living costs for the scholarship holder. There are no grants for family members. No funding for bench fees is provided.
• The granted scholarship period cannot be altered or extended. In case of a postponed arrival date, the scholarship period can be decreased accordingly.

How to apply

Please read the application instructions here.

Application deadline

The scholarship application call for the academic year 2014/2015 is now open. Application deadline is 24:00 CET, Wednesday, 15 January 2014.

Africa Biosciences Challenge Fund 2014 Research Fellowships: Call for Applications

Closing date for applications: February 28th 2014

The Biosciences eastern and central Africa - International Livestock Research Institute (BecA-ILRI) Hub, located in Nairobi, Kenya, is a shared agricultural research and biosciences platform that exists to increase access for African researchers to affordable, world-class research facilities. In addition, the BecA-ILRI Hub provides research-related services and capacity building opportunities to eastern and central Africa and beyond. 

The Africa Biosciences Challenge Fund (ABCF), managed by the BecA-ILRI Hub, provides fellowships to scientists and graduate students from African national agricultural research organisations and universities to undertake biosciences research-for-development projects at the BecA-ILRI Hub. The purpose of the ABCF fellowship program is to develop capacity for agricultural biosciences research in Africa, to support research projects that ultimately contribute towards increasing food and nutritional security or food safety in Africa, and to facilitate access to the BecA-ILRI Hub by African researchers.

 We seek applicants with innovative ideas for short to medium term research projects (up to 12 months) that can be undertaken at the BecA-ILRI Hub. Projects must be in the areas of food and nutritional security or food safety in Africa. 

Scientists and graduate students conducting research in the following areas are particularly encouraged to apply:

• Improved control of priority livestock diseases including African swine fever (ASF); contagious bovine and caprine pleuropneumonia (CBPP and CCPP); peste des petits ruminants (PPR); Rift Valley fever (RVF); East Coast fever (ECF); capripox virus diseases of ruminants;
• Harnessing genetic diversity for conservation, resistance to disease and improving productivity of crops and livestock (livestock focus: African indigenous breeds, particularly of goats, chickens, and cavies and other micro-livestock);
• Molecular breeding for important food security crops in Africa;
• Plant transformation to address food insecurity in Africa;
• Plant-microbe interactions;
• Tissue culture and virus indexing for production of virus-free planting materials in Africa;
• Orphan crops including amaranth, baobab, taro, wild mushrooms, enset;
• Crop pests, pathogens and weed management research, including biological control;
• Food safety, including addressing aflatoxin and other mycotoxin contamination in food and feeds;
• Nutritional analysis of food and feeds;
• Rapid diagnostics for crop and livestock diseases;
• Genomics and metagenomics, including for microbial discovery;
• Studies on climate-smart forage grasses and mixed livestock-crop systems;
• Microbial technology for improving adaptation of staple food crops and grasses to biotic and abiotic stresses;
• Soil health in agricultural systems;
• Special opportunities also exist to connect with leading international scientists linked with the BecA-ILRI Hub in the following areas: wheat rusts, insect pests, nitrogen fixation. (For these opportunities please apply by Dec 31st 2013)
• Other special opportunities exist to connect with CGIAR Research Programs on Livestock & Fish and Agriculture for Nutrition & Health to explore how their proposed research might fit into the on-going efforts to improve pro-poor food systems in Tanzania (smallholder dairy), Uganda (smallholder pigs), Egypt (aquaculture) and Ethiopia (small ruminants). Such collaboration would allow the candidate’s research to contribute more directly to an impact-oriented research-for-development agenda, and offer additional opportunities for joint activities. For more information, please contact: Dr. Amos Omore a.omore at cgiar dot org (Tanzania dairy); Dr. Danilo Pezo d.pezo at cgiar dot org (Uganda pigs); Dr. Malcolm Dickson m.dickson at cgiar dot org (Egypt aquaculture); Dr. Barbara Rischkowsky b.rischkowsky at cgiar dot org (Ethiopia small ruminants).

 We particularly welcome applications from women candidates. 

 Applicant requirements

• National (passport holder) of a BecA-ILRI Hub target country: Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda. In exceptional cases we may consider applicants from other African countries.
• A researcher at a national agricultural research organization or university in a BecA-ILRI Hub target country
• Currently engaged in research in food and nutritional security or food safety in Africa, or in a research area with relevance to agriculture in Africa
• MSc or PhD in biosciences, agriculture or related subject. In exceptional cases we may consider applicants with a bachelor’s degree.
• Good working knowledge of written and spoken English
• Completed online application form
• A signed letter of approval for your application from the head of your institute.

Costs covered by the fellowship 

• Research at the BecA-ILRI Hub
• Travel
• Medical insurance
• Accommodation
• Living allowance

Please note that fellowships do not cover the cost of fieldwork or research at the applicant’s home institute.

Timeline

• Closing date for applications: February 28th 2014.
• We will begin to notify early applicants from Dec 1st 2013. The notification process will be completed byApril 30th 2014.
• Implementation of projects: from January 2014. 

CLICK HERE TO APPLY ONLINE: https://beca.fluidreview.com 

 The ABCF Research Fellowship programme is supported by the Australian Government through a partnership between Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the BecA-ILRI Hub; and by the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), and the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida).

• For general information on the BecA-ILRI Hub visit http://hub.africabiosciences.org/aboutbeca
• For information on the technologies and research-related services available at the BecA-ILRI Hub visithttp://hub.africabiosciences.org/activities/services 

Thank you in advance for considering this opportunity. We look forward to hearing from you.

Email: Beca-Hub at cgiar dot org 

DOWNLOAD APPLICATION GUIDELINES HERE:

Attachments: Application Guidelines.pdf[ ]129 Kb

How students can save money while learning

By YVONNE KAWIRA
More by this Author

Let us face it. University students spend a great deal of money.

With over 50,000 students who sat last year’s Form Four exam qualifying to join local universities, there is a need to spend wisely in order to avoid extra charges and help save your money.

Food, books, numerous assignments demanding printing and notes to photocopy — these expenses could leave one in a “too much month left at the end of the money” situation.

If students know how to save or make a penny while in college, then they could make substantial savings.

Quite often, new students end up wasting or mismanaging their funds in their first year of school before learning the hard way to be wise spenders.

Reducing Expenses

According to a Students Organisation of Nairobi University (SONU) leader Isa Mohamed Faradere, there are a number of ways in which students could use to keep their expenses at bare minimum.

“Some students have formed groups of five individuals who contribute Sh3,000 each and set that aside for food. This eases the burden of covering the cost of food alone,” said Mr Mohamed.

If students know how to save or make a penny while in college, then they could make substantial savings. PHOTO|FILE.   NATION

Mr Sheud Nurow, a student pursuing a business degree at the University of Nairobi, agrees and adds that printing and researching could be a lot cheaper if one learnt to use the back-to-back mode of printing.

“You can also instruct the person printing to compress your work and print in a back-to-back style — reducing two pages to one,” he notes.

Other students have become enterprising, making money from printing assignments for their colleagues.

There are many other ways in which a student can save money.

For example, through student discounts. One of the many benefits of being a student is that you get money off on many deals, including movie tickets, trips, and electronic devices.

African Spice Safaris, for example, offers special rates for students from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

When organising events or buying anything, it is important to review student’s offers first and take advantage of discounts.

“We arrange special itineraries for student and school education trips, visits, excursions, safaris, and holidays,” says a statement on the company’s website.

Offers like movie tickets are sold to students at lower prices, but one needs to produce a student ID card to benefit.

WEZESHA
Launched in 2010 and instituted by the World Bank in partnership with the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Board of Kenya, the WEZESHA initiative enables university students to buy laptops at Sh9,600 less than their retail price.

Some 42 universities have registered to participate in this initiative which will see learners buy laptops from FoneXpress/Orange, Safaricom, PC World/Airtel, WinComp Services Limited, and Ravenzo/Yu shops and outlets at subsidised prices.

According to Mr Mohammed, there are other ways for a student to save money. For instance, he says one pays less by eating at the university cafes and canteens, but that it is even cheaper to prepare one’s food.

“It is cheaper to cook your own food, although it is time-consuming, but if you cook one meal in the morning, you can store it for supper,” he said, adding that some students from the university have come up with brilliant ways of making money while studying.

“We have students who make chapati and mandazi and sell them to fellow students. This makes work a lot easier for us,” he noted.

Private universities

In private universities, there are programmes that could save money or lead to less spending.

Daystar University corporate affairs manager Charles Kilonzo told Money that the school has programmes that help students cater for school fees while at the same time enable one to acquire skills.

“We have a programme called Work Study that sees students earn up to Sh40,000 per semester in terms of school fees.

This is meant for needy students who have expressed an interest and have proved that they cannot raise enough money to cover their fees,” said Mr Kilonzo.

He said students are posted to departments that correspond with their line of study to ensure that they gain skills that expose them to what to expect in the job market.

“Marketing students who are posted in my department, for example, get hands-on experience on how to handle clients, marketing, and exhibition functions as well as newspaper analyses after which I get to review their work and recommend them for school fees,” he said, adding that these programmes do not interfere with the school timetable as the main priority is the student’s studies.

It is important to ensure that even as one looks to save money, this should not be done at the expense of one’s study. Therefore, balancing one’s timetable is crucial.

Source: Daily Nation Online