MIASA Individual Fellowships 2020/21

The Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) offers

10 Individual Fellowships (Junior/Senior) for 3-5 months

at the University of Ghana

for the Academic Year 2020/21

Application deadline: October 15, 2019, 24 h CET

The Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) is dedicated to research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, with ‘Sustainable Governance’ as its central topic. More specific sub-topics under this umbrella prominently include sustainable democracy, sustainable peace and conflict management and environmental transformation as well as migration and displacement, restitution of cultural objects, and human rights research. Overarching aims of MIASA are working towards a reduction of global asymmetries in knowledge production and bridging the cultural divide between anglophone and francophone Africa. MIASA, established in 2018, serves as a hub for exchange, networking and collaboration amongst leading researchers from Germany, Ghana, the African and European continents and beyond. It is located on the beautiful campus of the University of Ghana at Legon (Accra).

The Institute supports innovative research projects through individual fellowships.

Up to 10 individual fellowships are available to researchers from Germany, Africa and other parts of the world. Fellowships of 3 to 5 months may be applied for. They will allow researchers to conduct their own research projects.

The fellowships will be awarded to researchers of top academic quality with an innovative and high quality research topic and will be selected through a highly competitive, strictly merit-based selection process.

The project proposals must address in one way or another MIASA’s umbrella topic and overall aims.

The fellowships are held for 3 to 5 months between September 2020 and August 2021. The successful applicants will become MIASA Fellows with all the corresponding rights and obligations for the requested funding period.

The fellows’ salary costs will be met by MIASA on the principle of “no loss, no gain,” for every full fellowship month, and paid directly to his/her home institution. Furthermore, fellows will receive a monthly allowance of 400 €. For fellows affiliated with an African institution at the commencement of the IFG, this monthly allowance will be 1.000 €.

Non-affiliated senior fellows receive a monthly grant of 2.000 € in total. Non-affiliated junior fellows will receive a monthly grant of 1.200 €.

For all fellows MIASA will provide accommodation and reimburse travel costs. In addition, a contribution to support research undertaken at MIASA (max. 250 €/ fellow month) can be granted upon application.

The Institute provides its fellows with modern office space and an up-to-date infrastructure. Fellows have full access to all library services at the University of Ghana. A full-time presence of fellows at MIASA for the fellowship period is expected.

The Institute supports academic exchange across existing boundaries: between disciplines, between different cultures and countries, between established and younger researchers. Furthermore, MIASA engages in activities opening the research community to society and politics. Fellows will be part of this community and profit from the lively research environment of the university.

MIASA is committed to inclusion and gender equality. The MIASA fellowship program aims for gender parity and is promoting affirmative action policies.

Applications

The completed application form together with the required documents has to be up-loaded on the application webpage (https://frias.wufoo.com/forms/miasa-individual-fellowships-202021/) and submitted by September 30, 2019; 24.00 h CET.

Information on the application and selection process (required documents, eligibility criteria, evaluation criteria, timeline and stages of the selection process) is provided at: https://www.ug.edu.gh/mias-africa/.

Eligibility

Eligible for application are early career researchers (1-6 years after completion of their PhD) and senior researchers (more than 6 years after completion of their PhD) from around the globe in a relevant discipline of the Humanities or the Social Sciences at the time of the application deadline.

Selection

The all-important selection criteria are the academic excellence of the applicant and the research proposal. Additionally, what will be taken into account are the required experience and capability to conduct the research project as well as the fit of the proposed topic with MIASA’s umbrella topic and overall aims.

An international selection committee will be responsible for the selection of the fellows.

Proviso

This call is published with the proviso that the Federal German Ministry of Research (BMBF) will grant funding for MIASA’s main phase (2020 to 2026).

For further details please contact us at MIASA under miasa@ug.edu.gh