Applications Open for STAARS Fellowship!

Deadline: 15 March 2018

The Structural Transformation of African Agriculture and Rural Spaces (STAARS) fellowship program announces a call for concept proposals from early-career African researchers seeking to become STAARS fellows in 2018.

The fellowship will cover travel and training. STAARS fellows will be paired with mentors at Cornell University with whom they will jointly author a paper on a topic of mutual interest relating to structural transformation in Africa south of the Sahara.

STAARS fellowship program is managed by Cornell University in collaboration with the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) and other partners.  PIM will support the publication of resulting research findings in high quality journals and as working papers. In addition, PIM and Cornell will facilitate fellows’ participation in scientific and policy conferences.

The STAARS Fellowship began in 2016 and to date has supported 14 fellows from diverse backgrounds.

Themes

Prospective STAARS fellows are invited to develop proposals in the following thematic areas:

• Dynamics of agriculture input use, technological change, and productivity growth in Africa south of the Sahara.
• Rural factor market performance, labor exits and productivity in Africa south of the Sahara.
• Food security, nutrition and health linkages in Africa south of the Sahara.
• Poverty dynamics and resilience against shocks in Africa south of the Sahara.

Eligibility Criteria

• The call is open for early-career African researchers, either late stage Ph.D. students or those who completed their Ph.D. in 2013 or later. Researchers must be based and working in Africa, with priority given to proposals relating to the research themes indicated above.
• Qualified female researchers are particularly encouraged to apply.
• While a Ph.D. is not mandatory, STAARS encourages fresh Ph.D. graduates who can benefit from a mentorship and additional training.
• Fellows are expected to complete the proposed project by publishing findings as a working paper and submitting to a peer-reviewed journal by December 15, 2018.

How to apply

Applicants can apply via given website.

Eligible countries: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Cote d’Ivorie, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

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