The Partnership for skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) is an African-led initiative with the objective of strengthening science, technology and engineering capability in sub- Saharan Africa (SSA) to further its socio-economic transformation. PASET established a Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF) to contribute towards the training of a critical mass of PhD and post-doctoral candidates, and support research and innovation in priority thematic areas: ICTs including big data and artificial intelligence; food security and agribusiness; minerals, mining and materials engineering; energy including renewables; and climate change. RSIF focuses on transformative technologies that have a far-reaching positive impact on society. It is currently funded partly by contributions from African governments, the World Bank and the Government of Korea; and implemented by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Nairobi, Kenya, as the RSIF Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU-icipe).
The primary objective of RSIF is to train high quality PhD and post-doctoral students to address the human resource gap of highly qualified specialists in the fields of applied sciences, engineering, and technology (ASET) and contribute to improving research and innovation capacities in those fields in sub-Saharan Africa. RSIF supports PhD students, post-doctoral scientists and universities in SSA to establish a high-quality training, research and innovation environment and to develop their institutional capacity for the benefit of the whole region.
icipe (www.icipe.org) is a non-profit research and development organization that was established in 1970 and is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, with country offices in Ethiopia, Uganda and Somalia. In 2018, icipe was competitively selected by the World Bank and PASET to serve as the Regional Coordination Unit (RCU) of RSIF with a mandate that includes overall coordination planning, monitoring and evaluation of RSIF activities including management of PhD scholarships, and research and innovation grants.
About the PASET-RSIF PhD Scholarship
The PASET- RSIF initiative is a competitive PhD scholarship program providing 3-4-year training for citizens of SSA countries at an RSIF African Host University (AHU) including, 6-24 months ‘sandwich’ training at a selected university, research institute or private company. Applications are invited from candidates interested in receiving international-quality PhD training. and access to research and innovation ecosystems at an AHU.
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- 45 RSIF PhD scholarships are available to nationals of sub-Saharan African countries who do not have a PhD degree, and who are not currently enrolled in any PhD Program.
- The scholarships cover costs of the PhD Program, including travel, living expenses, medical insurance, university fees, supervisor and research support.
- Scholars will spend 6-24 months ‘sandwich’ training at a selected international or regional partner university, research institute or private company.
- The RSIF scholarships will be awarded in September 2019 to begin studies in October 2019.