Ruforum Graduate Teaching Assistantship Research Grants in Africa

Ruforum Graduate Teaching Assistantship Research Grants in Africa

Over the years, universities in Africa have sought opportunities to send their staff for post-graduate training abroad in a bid to strengthen research and training, at very high costs.

The loss of faculty for 4 to 5 years has negatively affected universities.

In order to meet the growing demand for Doctoral level scientists in Africa, the Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) programme was initiated by RUFORUM (a consortium of 126 universities operating in 38 African countries) Vice Chancellors to improve the quality of higher education at African Universities by increasing the proportion of academic staff with PhD qualifications, contributing to locally relevant research and reducing the time away from the home institution.

The initiative was officially launched by the African Union Commissioner for Human Resource, Science and Technology, H.E. Dr Martial De Paul Ikounga on 25th July 2014 in Maputo, Mozambique during the RUFORUM Fourth Biennial Conference.

The specific objectives of the GTA are to:

1. Improve the quality of higher education and increase the pool of PhD-level trained academic staff in African universities;

2. Provide opportunities for the doctoral research to contribute more directly to African Development 3. Strengthen inter- university collaboration in the field of higher education in Africa; and

4. Promote staff mobility among RUFORUM member universities, and across Africa.

The RUFORUM Secretariat announces the availability of 42 PhD research grants under the GTA programme to support their doctoral research over two years.

The research supported through these grants should as much as possible have a participatory, action research approach, working closely with a range of stakeholders and thus contributing to the RUFORUM mission of linking universities more closely with rural communities and with research, extension, development and policy-making agencies.

However, basic research may also be considered depending on the research area of the GTA Fellow.

Eligibility