CAPSI-Mastercard Foundation PhD Fellowship 2024/2025 for young African doctoral students (Fully Funded)

Application Deadline:  Monday, September 16^th, 2024.

Applications are now open for the 2024/2025 CAPSI-Mastercard Foundation PhD Fellowship. The Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI) at the Wits Business School (University of the Witwatersrand), with the support of the Mastercard Foundation invites applications for Doctoral Fellowship on the Non-Profit Sector and its Contribution to African Economies project. The aim of the PhD fellowship is to provide opportunities for young African doctoral students registered in African universities to participate in research on non-profit organisations and their contributions to African economies. The specific focus of the research project is ‘The creation of dignified and fulfilling work for young Africans by the non-profit sector’.

The CAPSI-Mastercard Foundation doctoral fellowship programme offers a maximum of five years of support to twenty (20) selected full time Ph.D students.

Requirements

To be eligible for the Fellowship Programme, applicants must:

1. Be a female aged 35 years or below
2. Be currently enrolled as a full time student in a relevant doctoral programme at an African university, focusing on themes and research aligned to the project.
3. Have research interest in the non-profit sector’s contributions to dignified and fulfilling work for African youth. 
4. Demonstrate commitment to the programme and the ability to work effectively in a team.
5. Be available to participate in the programme for its entire duration.
6. In the first or second year of their PhD programme.
7. Be nationals of any of the countries listed above and conduct research on any of them or some of them.

• The programme invites doctoral students exclusively from African universities in the 17 countries targeted by the project. These are Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

SUBJECT FIELDS

Social and behavioural sciences, including Economics, Development Studies, International Development, Non-profit or Philanthropic studies, Statistics and Actuarial Sciences, Management, Public Policy, History, Human Geography, or any development-related field.

The research should strictly focus on the project’s main objective; The Contributions of Non-profit Sectors to African Economies with specific focus on Dignified and Fulfilling Work for the Youth.

Benefits

• Each fellow will receive a fully funded fellowship, providing a full scholarship of up to $30,000 per year.

Application Procedure

Eligible candidates should prepare and submit the following as part of the application package:

1. Current curriculum vitae (CV).
2. A personal statement (maximum 500 words) outlining their research interest, motivation, and alignment with the advertised CAPSI Research programme.
3. An outline of their proposed research project (Maximum 2500 words) covering the following.

I. Background of study

II. Problem Statement

III. Research questions

IV. Research objectives

V.  Literature review and theoretical framework

VI. Proposed methodology (covering research design, sampling and, data collection and ethical considerations)

4. A letter of recommendation from supervisor/proposed supervisor.

5. A copy of academic transcripts.

6. Proof of age ( e.g., passport, birth certificate, etc.)

7. Proof of admission or registration in an African University

The application must be sent by email to: dennis.osei@wits.ac.za (applicants from West and North Africa), wycliffe.ouma@wits.ac.za (applicants from East Africa), and eleanor.chipeta @wits.ac.za (applicants from Southern Africa)  clearly marked “PHD FELLOWSHIP IN THE NON-PROFIT SECTOR’S CONTRIBUTION TO AFRICAN ECONOMIES,  and copied to Joseph.Sobuthongo@wits.ac.za.

Timeline:

• The deadline for applications is  Monday, September 16^th, 2024.
• Successful applicants will be notified by Friday, September 27^th, 2024.