Deadline: 29-Aug-2025
The International Growth Centre is currently accepting applications for its IGC Sierra Leone Early-Career Local Researcher Fellowship to support emerging researchers in contributing to public policy.
Applicants are encouraged to submit proposals relating to curriculum development or research work that addresses capacitation within the following topics: Countering misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information, Economic ties and fair trade to promote mutual prosperity, Cooperation in energy, science, technology, cybersecurity, or artificial intelligence, and People-to-people ties through sports and the arts including film and music.
The fellowship has a duration of three months, from September to December 2025, and is located in Freetown, Sierra Leone, with flexibility for hybrid modalities. It comes with a support package that includes a research grant of £5,000 to support fieldwork, data collection, and living costs. The fellowship also includes mentorship from IGC-affiliated academics and the IGC Sierra Leone country team, as well as policy engagement opportunities with relevant government ministries and stakeholders. Expected outputs from the fellowship include a short policy brief, a working paper, and a presentation to relevant policymakers.
To be eligible, applicants must be Sierra Leonean nationals or residents currently enrolled in a postgraduate program, such as a PhD or Master’s, or serving as junior researchers or faculty in a Sierra Leonean institution. They must demonstrate strong quantitative and analytical skills, including proficiency in tools like Stata, R, SPSS, or Python, and be committed to producing work that directly informs public policy and is accessible to non-academic audiences. Desirable skills include prior exposure to policy-engaged research or government data, familiarity with Sierra Leone’s economic landscape, and strong academic writing and communication skills.
Interested candidates must submit a Curriculum Vitae (maximum of three pages), a Cover Letter (maximum of 1,000 words) describing their motivation, relevant research experience, and a short outline of the proposed research idea, one academic reference which can be sent separately by the referee, and an optional writing sample such as a thesis chapter or policy paper.
For more information, visit IGC.
