Deadline: 30-Sep-22
Do you belong to a cadre of talented early-career African scientists who wish to be trained abroad and return to their home institutions and become scientific leaders in their community, help solve Africa’s challenges in global health and development, and become trainers for the next generation? If yes, the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative (APTI) has an opportunity for you.
APTI is implemented by the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) in partnership with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). Through the program, APTI Fellows are trained and supported to become scientific leaders who can advocate for increased research and innovation projects in Africa. This is done through 4-year postdoctoral fellowships where APTI Fellows are placed in various laboratories of the NIH Institutes or Centers (ie, Intramural Research Program) for 2 years before returning to their home institutions in Africa for another 2 years of research.
Focus Areas
APTI fellowships are open to applications from fields of health research, with a focus on innovation aimed at the discovery and translation of transformative solutions to global health problems that are priorities for their home institutions and countries. Additionally, proposals should align with the focus areas of BMGF, the NIH, and the AAS. In this regard, specific areas of interest include:
- Human immunobiology; (human) host-pathogen biology; vaccines and biologics discovery
- Drug discovery: malaria, tuberculosis, pandemic viruses, contraception
- Microbiome research
- Genomics: human, pathogen, microbiome
- Gene-based cures for HIV and sickle cell disease
- HIV, TB, malaria, neglected tropical diseases, enteric and diarrheal diseases, pneumonia
- Women’s sexual and reproductive health
- Vector biology and control (for malaria, neglected tropical diseases and arboviruses)
- Maternal, neonatal and child health, the last including nutrition, growth, and neurodevelopment
- Data science, regulatory science
- Epidemic preparedness: molecular surveillance, clinical trial networks
Funding Information
- Years 1 and 2
- During the first two years of the fellowship at the NIH, APTI fellows shall be engaged as a Postdoctoral Fellow under the NIH Intramural Visiting Fellow Program (VFP).
- Years 3 and 4
- After successfully completing the two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the NIH, the APTI fellows shall be supported to transition into being independent researchers as follows. APTI fellows shall be provided with a grant of up to USD 226,800 to support years 3 and 4 of the APTI fellowship as Detailed:
- Salary support of up-to USD 38,400 per year subject to the home institution’s HR provisions. The salary support is aimed at ensuring that APTI fellows spend at least 50% of their personnel time on their APTI fellowship
- Research support of up to USD 50,000 per year
- Equipment purchase support of up to USD 50,000 (total)
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible applications for APTI fellowships must meet the following criteria:
- Must be citizens of an African country, currently employed in an academic, research, or government position in an African country
- Must have a relevant doctoral degree (eg, PhD, MD, MBBS) awarded no more than 7 years before the application submission deadline. Applicants whose doctoral degrees were awarded earlier may be considered on a case-by-case basis subject to justification (eg, where one took a career break for family-related reasons or to seek asylum due to political instability). Such applicants should submit a request (with justification) for consideration
- Must have less than 5 years of relevant research experience after the award of their doctoral degree, by their start date at the NIH. Brief of clinical work and/or teaching, that does not include research, periods may be allowable, but cannot exceed 2-3 years total.
- Must be fluent in English – reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
For more information, visit https://www.aasciences.africa/calls/call-applications-apti-fellowships