Deadline: 10-Jan-22
The UGent- VIB International Plant Biotechnology Outreach (VIB-IPBO) has announced an open call for the Open Doors Fellowship Program (ODFP), a unique capacity building program to equip the women fellows with essential hard and soft skills to support them towards their career consolidation.
The Open Doors Fellowship Program for women researchers in Africa is a holistic program that shall target women researchers in Africa to help them acquire the necessary hard and soft skills to strengthen their placements within their hosting institutions and, ultimately, avoid the dropout before their consolidation stage .
Creating an awareness culture within their hosting institutions about recruiting women, supporting them along their tenure track, and adapting policies is also paramount to prevent women’s drop out from STEM research and ensure the next generation of mentors and role models for the younger generation of scientists.
The program intends to address the needs of early and mid-career women scientists researching at (inter) national research centers and universities in agricultural-related fields in agro-biotechnology, plant breeding, molecular biology & genetics, microbiology, chemical ecology, plant & soil health. Fellows should be in the process of starting up or consolidating their research teams regardless of whether they hold a project-based research position.
Objectives
- Build up the hard and soft-skills of the fellows to consolidate knowledge, open new paths of research and navigate their careers with more confidence.
- Expand and consolidate the Belgium-Africa scientific networks.
- Enhance the scientific outputs of the fellows in fields of research that are relevant for the African agro-biotechnology and agricultural sector.
- Contribute to reducing the dropout from early & mid-career women scientists in African research and academic institutions.
Benefits
VIB-IPBO is supporting fellows that will:
- Learn, in a hands-on fashion, new techniques & experimental methodologies relevant to their field of research that are routinely used in the receiving institution’s laboratory in Belgium.
- Conduct experiments and analyzes (in vivo, in vitro or in silico) with equipment, software, hardware or research facilities in Belgium that are not accessible to the fellows at their institutions in Africa, which will lead to the acceleration of the research outputs of the fellows.
What is the approach of the ODFP?
- This is a 2-year coaching and mentoring program that includes a Phase 1 with a short research stay in Belgium plus a Phase 2 that entails an active capacity building, networking and mentorship period.
- The program will offer a final start-up grant for research equipment to the fellows after completion of Phase 1 & 2.
Geographic Scope
Senegal, Burkina Faso, Benin, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania or South Africa.
Eligibility Criteria
- Women in post-doc and mid-career positions who are willing to pursue a research career and facing challenges to access capacity-building opportunities and international networks.
- With a contract in an (inter) national research centers & universities for the time the fellowship will last.
- With an active line of research in agricultural-related fields being developed and implemented in Africa in specific countries.
- Supervising MS c or PhD students and staff.
For more information, visit https://ipbo.vib-ugent.be/en/open-doors-fellowship-program