2016 Iso Lomso Fellowships for Early Career African Researchers

Application Deadline: May 25th 2016 (Central African Time)

Iso Lomso Fellowships provide an exceptional early career opportunity for Africa’s brightest minds in academia. Iso Lomso means ‘the eye of tomorrow’ in isiXhosa: seeing towards the future, laying the foundations for tomorrow.

The programme is aimed at African scholars who have obtained a doctoral degree within the preceding eight years and who hold an academic position at a university or research institution anywhere in Africa. Preference will be given to candidates who have established a research programme and have completed a post-doctoral fellowship. All disciplines are considered.

Eligibility Requirements:

To be eligible applicants must:
• be a national of any African country;
• have an affiliation at a research or higher education institution in an African country, and continue to do so for the foreseeable future;
• have obtained a doctoral degree from any recognised higher education institution (worldwide) after the 1st of January 2009;
• be in a position to commence a first period of residency at STIAS during 2017

For the 2016 call at least three awards will be made. All disciplines will be considered. Applicants from non-Anglophone African countries may conduct their research in the language of preference; however, the application documents must be completed in English. Applications will be evaluated and selected on the basis of the following criteria:
• Level: the applicant’s academic excellence and the originality and scholarly strength of the proposed research project;
• Innovation: the project’s promise of new insights and the potential to produce new knowledge;
• Interdisciplinarity: whether the project methodology allows for drawing from different disciplines and its potential to facilitate an interdisciplinary discourse;
• Relevance: the project’s relevance for scholarship and knowledge production in Africa;
• Feasibility: whether the research design and the research plan are convincing and realistic.

Iso Lomso Fellows will enjoy:

• a three-year attachment to STIAS during which time they may spend a total of ten months in residence at STIAS to develop and pursue a long-term research programme;
• the possibility of a residency at a sister institute for advanced study in North America, Europe or elsewhere;
• funding to attend up to three international conferences or training workshops anywhere in the world;
• support to convene a workshop with collaborators at STIAS;
• lecturer replacement subsidy for the fellow’s home institution during residency periods.

Application Procedure:

To apply, eligible candidates need to complete the Iso Lomso 2016

• Application Form which can be downloaded at www.stias.ac.za/iso-lomso/
  The completed application form should be signed, dated and submitted together with:
  • A motivational cover letter of not more than one page in length. The letter should include a description of the applicant’s academic career, detailing the ideas and experiences that have shaped and motivated his or her intellectual work.
  • A pre-proposal for a three-year research project. This is a short essay of two to three pages which provides
• (i) a summary of the applicant’s current research/work,
• (ii) the main thesis of the proposed research project, including the problem statement and aim of the project,
• (iii) an overview of existing literature and other sources for the project,
• (iv) the project’s theoretical background and methodological approach,
• (v) the significance/relevance of the project for African scholarship, and (vi) a provisional time framework with proposed periods of residency at STIAS, additional activities, and research outputs.
  • One or two recent writing examples (articles or book sections) related to the proposed project.
  • A copy of the applicant’s doctoral certificate.
  • A letter of support from the applicant’s home institution (either from the head of department, dean of faculty, principal of college, or equivalent).
  • Two letters of recommendation from scholars who are familiar with the applicant’s work, preferably one from the applicant’s current home institution and one from another institution.

To submit an application:

1. Download and read the Iso Lomso Call for Applications 2016
2. Download and complete the Iso Lomso Application Form 2016
3. Prepare the required additional documents
4. Submit the application documents by email before the deadline

Selection:

• Shortlisted candidates will be contacted during July 2016 for any additional information that may be required about their proposed projects.
• A final selection will be made by the end of August 2016.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Iso Lomso Fellowships for Early Career African Researchers