AESA RISE Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme

The AESA-RISE Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme is a scheme to support the training of postdoctoral researchers in Africa.

The AESA-RISE Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme will build on the foundation of the Regional Initiative in Science and Education (RISE), which has for a decade prepared PhD- and masters-level scientists and engineers in sub-Saharan Africa through competitively selected, university-based research and teaching networks, to respond to an urgent need to increase the number of researchers in Africa.

The AESA-RISE Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme ultimately seeks to support globally competitive research in universities and research institutes in Africa and to contribute to the creation of knowledge-based economies on the continent.

With an initial US$2 million funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY), the programme seeks to deliver the next generation of Africa’s research leaders by providing postdoctoral fellowships to academics based in African institutions to be mentored by senior academics in a three-year fellowship programme researching critical issues to sustainable development in Africa.

As part of the fellowship, the researchers will benefit from three to six months research and mentorship visits at institutions outside their host institution. The institutions to provide the research visits include the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, the Cambridge-Africa Programme at the University of Cambridge, the Africa Oxford Initiative, the African Research Universities Alliance, the International Science Programme at Uppsala University in Sweden, and the University of Basel in Switzerland in the framework of the Swiss – African Research Cooperation (SARECO).

AESA-RISE Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme Objectives

The AESA-RISE Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme seeks to:

• Increase the number of postdoctoral researchers in Africa and build a critical mass of world class researchers by providing funding for training and research that will help to retain them on the continent so they can make an essential contribution to the development of knowledge-based economies.
• Provide a quality and structured postdoctoral training programme to nurture the next generation of researchers to independently lead research and innovation programmes and to emerge as future mentors and supervisors.
• Provide access to quality research facilities and mentors from Africa and abroad through its partnerships with seven African, US and European higher education institutions
• Promote the production, reproduction and transition of knowledge from research laboratories to lecture halls as well as to the halls of government, to create an enduring infrastructure for globally competitive African universities that attract international students and researchers. The ultimate goal is to produce policies, products and practices that impact lives and livelihoods on the continent.