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Africa Initiative Graduate Research Grant

Students enrolled in a university in Canada

 The Africa Initiative Graduate Research Grant program supports short-term academic placements for students enrolled in a Master’s and PhD program at a university in Canada.  The program offers grants of up to CAD$10,000 each to fifteen students per year to conduct field-based research for up to three months in Africa.

Please refer to the program guidelines for detailed information about the application process and program requirements.

Download Press Release (Call for Applications)

Download Program Guidelines

Download Application Form

Eligibility

  • must be a Master’s or PhD student enrolled in a Canadian university
  • must be in good academic standing (with at least an overall B, or equivalent, standing)
  • proposed research must be original and timely and focus on one or more of the thematic areas of conflict resolution, energy, food security, health, migration, and climate change 

Application requirements (all documents must be in English)

  • completed application form
  • written proposal (maximum 5 pages) summarizing the applicant’s proposed research, including objective; methodology; expected results; timeline of field-based research in Africa; and an overview of the expected host organization’s involvement with the proposed research
  • current CV
  • university transcript from 2010 to 2011
  • one letter of support from the host organization the applicant plans to work with in the proposed destination country; the supporting letter must be in electronic format on the organization's letterhead and should outline the name, title and contact information of the person signing it; it should also detail preliminary interaction and action plan for the proposed research 
  • two letters of recommendation (one letter from the applicant’s academic advisor in Canada and one letter from an academic or professional source; all references must be emailed by the referee to aiexchange@cigionline.org)
  • passport scan
  • writing sample (can be any written research work authored by the applicant) 

 NOTE: The grant is available for research in the countries listed below. Proposals will not be approved in regions with travel advisories by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) recommending to avoid non-essential or all travel. The grant may be withheld if a travel advisory arises after concession of the grant and before travel. For up-to-date information and travel advisories, visit: www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/menu-eng.asp

Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia

Applications must be submitted by the application deadline via email to aiexchange@cigionline.org. Application materials must be submitted in a single email (with the exception of references) with each attachment clearly titled. The Africa Initiative will acknowledge receipt of all applications within 48 hours of receipt. 

Program requirements

Participants are expected to author three backgrounders for the Africa Portal during their placement and write one major research paper.

Timeline

  • January 15, 2012          Application deadline
  • March 31, 2012             Selected applicants will be notified
  • September 30, 2012    Deadline for submitting all program requirements

Contact

All inquiries can be addressed to:

        Ibi Brown (Ms.)

        Exchange Program Coordinator, The Centre for International Governance Innovation

       aiexchange@cigionline.org

 

2011 Africa Initiative Graduate Research Grant Recipients (Canada)

Bailey, Julia               An ethnography of social complexity, food security and drought in Maasai areas (Kenya)

Birks, Katherine        The effect of a caregiver microcredit-nutrition education intervention on child feeding behaviours in Ghana

Blythe, Jessica          Climate change vulnerability, adaptation, and community resiliency in coastal Mozambique

Clayton, Ashley         A qualitative study on the impacts of land grabbing on food sovereignty in Madagascar

Daku, Mark               The political determinants of HIV/AIDS policies in South Africa

Dixon, Jenna            Gender-based analysis of access and use of the Ghana national health insurance scheme

Harper, Sherilee       Indigenous resiliency to climate change and mitigation impacts on waterborne disease (Uganda)

Henley, Phaedra      Exposure to pesticides and its impact on the health of residents from floriculture communities in Kenya

Lee, Laura                Social suffering and the sexual health of youth-headed households (Kenya)

Mitchell, Matthew      Rethinking the migration-conflict nexus: Insights from the cocoa regions in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana

Osano, Philip            Payments for ecosystem services and implication for poverty reduction among pastoral communities (Kenya)

Rachlis, Beth            Profiling defaulters from antiretroviral therapy and improving effectiveness of patient tracing measures (Malawi)

Rawat, Angeli           Quantifying integration of HIV-related services in primary health care clinics in Free State, South Africa

Steflja, Izabela          Reconciliation and domestic responses to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

Wallace, Ashley        Women's experiences in maternal health care with low utilization of skilled attendants (Uganda)