DAAD/AERC CMAAE PhD Fellowship Programme 2021/2022

About this position

Application Deadline: December 20th 2020

DAAD, a public funded, self- governing organization of the institutions of higher education in Germany, promotes international academic exchange as well as educational co-operation with developing countries through a variety of funding and scholarship programmes.

The Collaborative Master of Science in Agricultural and Applied Economics (CMAAE) programme of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) is run in a network of 17 participating universities in 13 countries in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa.

The CMAAE PhD fellowship programme aims at building the staff capacity of network universities that may not have adequate capacity in research and teaching at the post graduate level. The PhD should be in Agricultural Economics through coursework, research, and thesis in Sub-Saharan Africa among CMAAEaccredited universities within East Africa (Egerton University and University of Nairobi in Kenya, Makerere University in Uganda, Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania, and Haramaya University in Ethiopia).

DAAD in cooperation with the CMAAE Programme of AERC, is offering up to 6 in-country, in-region PhD scholarships in Agricultural and Applied Economics. The objective of this cooperation is to support the national and regional postgraduate training programme offered by AERC.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

PhD Fellowship Programme for CMAAE Network Faculty Members

• All applicants must be holders of a masters degree in agricultural and applied economics, or related discipline.
• Applicants must be staff or potential staff members of a participating CMAAE university who are earmarked for staff retention to build the teaching and research capacities of departments of agricultural economics.
• Applicants must be recommended by a participating network university. The recommendation letter must indicate the willingness of the university to absorb the candidate upon successful completion of his/her PhD.

PhD Programme for CMAAE Graduates

• Must have attained at least a Second Class Honours (Upper Division) or equivalent in their undergraduate degree in Agricultural Economics or related field from an accredited University.
• Must have a masters degree with coursework and thesis component in Agricultural Economics, Economics or related fields from a CMAAE network university.
• The coursework should have covered microeconomics, macroeconomics and quantitative methods.
• Possession of at least one relevant publication in a refereed journal will be an added advantage.
• Evidence of engagement in economic management, research and/training in the public sector will be an added advantage.

Eligible Fields

Fields of specialization covered in the CMAAE programme include Agricultural and Rural Development, Agricultural Policy and Trade, Environment and Natural Resource Management, and Agribusiness Management

Duration and Commencement

Scholarships are available for up to a maximum of three years, initially granted for one year and may be

extended upon individual request and receipt of a complete application by using forms to be provided.

The duration of the PhD programme is 3 years, generally starting in September 2021.

Application Procedure and Deadline

• Interested applicants must submit their applications for admission directly to the respective host universities (application procedure can be obtained from the respective university websites). Upon receipt of an admission letter, temporary admission letter or letter assuring admission from the specific university, the applicant should apply to AERC for scholarship by submitting the below listed documents via cmaae@aercafrica.org not later than December 15, 2020. Note that the application to AERC is done concurrently with the application to DAAD with the same deadline so that same data is captured by the two institutions:

Simultaneously, applicants must apply for the scholarship via the DAAD portal by logging into the DAAD portal, registering themselves and submitting a DAAD application by 15 December 2020. The link to the DAAD portal is https://portal.daad.de/sap/bc/bsp/sap/z_set_cookie/setcookie.htm?fund_ar=stv&id=57572490

• DAAD requirements accessible here
• Hand-signed curriculum vitae; please use the Europass CV template: http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu
• DAAD application form duly filled (available in the DAAD-Portal)
• Certified copies of all university degree certificate
• Certified copies of all university transcripts

At least a temporary admission letter or an official letter assuring admission, including fee structure of respective course (original or certified copy)

• Letter of motivation (Maximum 2 pages)
• For faculty members, a reference letter from the Head of Department as a proof of employment (original only)
• PhD proposals which must demonstrate relevance to agricultural development
• Two (2) recommendation letters from academic referees who are at least Senior Lecturer in rank.

A preselection by DAAD will be done using plagiarism and other criteria, followed by a shortlisting by an AERC selection committee and concluded by a joint selection committee of AERC, DAAD and other partners.

• DAAD will be offering web seminars on how to apply on the DAAD portal in the coming weeks. Please check the DAAD website https://www.daad.or.ke/en/ and register for the seminars. Females, candidates from less privileged regions or groups as well as candidates with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply

• For any queries, please contact:
• Ms. Bertha Chedeye
• Programme Assistant- CMAAE cmaae@aercafrica.org
• African Economic Research Consortium (AERC)

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the DAAD/AERC CMAAE PhD Fellowship 2021/2022