Volkswagen Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships for Botswana Researchers, 2015

Applications are invited for postdoctoral fellowships for research projects in Sub-Saharan Africa” aims at providing sustainable support for research and research capacity development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Postdoctoral Fellowships are open for African researchers in the all field of Engineering Sciences. Duration of the fellowship is of three year and covers salary, research, travel costs and administrative costs up to 90,000 EUR for junior fellows and up to 120,000 EUR for senior fellows. Junior and Senior Fellowships are available for the duration of 36 months. The application deadline is 5th September 2014.

Study Subject(s): Fellowships are available for studying engineering sciences.
Course Level: The call provides funding opportunities for both junior and senior postdoctoral scholars for undertaking a research project.
Scholarship Provider: Volkswagen Foundation
Scholarship can be taken at: Sub-Saharan Africa and Germany

Eligibility: To be eligible for a junior postdoctoral fellowship, applicants must have less than three years of postdoctoral experience (the PhD must be completed by June 2015, at the latest). Postdoctoral researchers with more than three, but less than six years of postdoctoral experience are eligible to apply for a senior fellowship.

Scholarship Open for International Students: Applicants from Africa (Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia and Zimbabwe) can apply for these postdoctoral fellowships.

Scholarship Description: This very specific Postdoctoral Fellowship Program by the Volkswagen Foundation aims at providing sustainable support for research in the Engineering Sciences in Sub-Saharan Africa. It offers opportunities for postdoctoral researchers at both junior and senior (i.e. 3 – 6 years post-PhD) level to develop and conduct their own research projects. While open for any applicant who meets the eligibility criteria, the current call also builds on a previous call for proposals in this area from 2010, and especially invites those junior fellows currently funded as part of this initiative to submit applications for senior fellowships. In the selection process, they will then compete with the other applicants from the region.

Number of award(s): Not Known

Duration of award(s): Junior and Senior Fellowships are available for the duration of 36 months.

What does it cover?  The fellowship covers salary, research, travel costs, and administrative costs of up to 90,000 EUR for junior fellows and of up to 120,000 EUR for senior fellows for three years. In addition, the April 2014 program also offers opportunities and financial means to incorporate a German postdoctoral fellow in the project and work with international mentors.

Selection criteria: Not Known

Notification: Final decisions on fellowship grants will be made in the early summer of 2015.

How to Apply: In the first stage, pre-proposals must be submitted as three pdf files in English by 5 September 2014. This can be done in two ways, please choose one of the following: applications can either be uploaded via the electronic application system (as preferred option) or alternatively, sent via e-mail with relevant attachments to engineeringsciences2014@volkswagenstiftung.de. In both cases, the three pdf files should be (1) the cover letter, (2) the pre-proposal, and (3) all appendices. If you choose the electronic application system, the files should be uploaded under (1) “Cover Letter”, (2) “Pre-proposal description”, and (3) “Other Enclosures”, respectively. Please do not upload the application on the application system and send them via e-mail.

Scholarship Application Deadline: The application deadline is 5th September 2014.

Further Official Scholarship Information and Application