IDRC is now accepting applications for this year’s IDRC Doctoral Research Awards (IDRA). This call is open to Canadians, permanent residents of Canada, and citizens of developing countries pursuing doctoral studies at a Canadian university. These awards are intended for field research in developing countries to improve the lives of people in the developing world.
Jobs and Announcements
IDRC Doctoral Research Awards 2018
Deadline for Applications: 30 May 2018
The African Postdoctoral Training Initiative - a partnership of the African Academy of Sciences, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health
Deadline for Applications: 11 May 2018
The African Academy of Sciences (AAS), the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are partnering under the auspices of the Coalition of African Research & Innovation (CARI) to establish a post-doctoral training fellowship program, the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative (APTI) at the intramural laboratories of NIH. APTI fellows will train in a global health research area of priority for their home institutions and countries. While at the NIH, the fellows must be on leave or sabbatical from their home institution under the NIH Intramural Visiting Fellow Program. The research priority areas are in infectious diseases, nutrition, and reproductive, maternal, and child health and developing skills for clinical and translational research. Candidates must be citizens of and currently employed in an academic, research, or government position in an African country. Candidates must have less than 5 years of relevant research experience by their entry on duty date at NIH.
15th International Conference on Urban Health: Managing Urbanisation for Health, 26-30 November 2018, Kampala, Uganda
Deadline for abstracts: 14 May 2018
The 15th International Conference on Urban Health will bring together interdisciplinary researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, health and urban stakeholders and community leaders to exchange ideas and advance research and practice across sectors on how best to manage the rapid urbanisation occurring in all regions of the world. Abstracts are invited for oral and poster presentations, pre-formed panels, workshops and special tracks on the following conference themes: The Governance of Complex Systems, Culture and Inclusivity, Disasters, Epidemics, and the Unexpected, Cities as Economic Engines, Monitoring and Evaluation of Urban Health Indicators, Safety, Security, and Justice, Spiritual Health in the City.
Africa Innovation Summit 2019
6-8 June 2018, Kigali, Rwanda
The 2018 Summit will be a multifaceted event that will bring together stakeholders from various sectors, including decision makers to seek innovative and disruptive solutions for the challenges facing African countries. The focus of AIS 2018 will include energy access, water, health, food security and climate change. AIS II will be a three-day event and the program will include five plenary sessions to introduce major thematic issues followed by a series of facilitated workshops, which will take place in focused workgroups to deepen the dialogue and to seek solutions to address the key challenges facing African countries. Each workshop will focus on a specific theme with three to four panelists and will be led by a facilitator. The aims of the discussions are to seek solutions, develop an agenda and mobilize the people and stakeholders for collective action going forward. The AIS 2018 will include activities before, during and after the Summit.
African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum 2018
5-7 June 2018, City of Tshwane, South Africa
The African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum (ACCSF) functions as a network for the mayors of capital cities across the continent to achieve the sustainable development goals that are common to all and, in the words of Solly Msimanga, executive mayor of Tshwane, “to establish commonalities and challenges faced by major cities in Africa while showcasing and sharing successful initiatives towards the emergence of truly African, original and appropriate answers in addressing the sustainability imperative at the urban scale.”
Cochrane South Africa invites applications for the Aubrey Sheiham Evidence-based Health Care in Africa Leadership Award 2018
Applications close: 31 July 2018
Since 2001 through the generosity of the late Professor Aubrey Sheiham 16 Cochrane researchers from low- and middle-income countries have been funded and supported to complete Cochrane Reviews on topics relevant to their region, and to cascade knowledge about Cochrane and evidence-based health care (EBHC) to their local networks. In 2014, the scholarship evolved into a new award focusing on leadership in EBHC - the Aubrey Sheiham EBHC in Africa Leadership Award, administered by Cochrane South Africa. With an updated and more concentrated focus, the fellowship is awarded annually to an individual based in Africa, and supports the conduct and dissemination of a high-impact Cochrane Review on a topic relevant to resource-constrained settings. The Cochrane Review should be registered with a Cochrane Review Group at the time of application. An update of an existing review is allowed if it will have high impact. The applicant should provide proof that relevant evidence is available for inclusion in the review. In addition to completing their chosen Cochrane Review and disseminating its findings, the award recipient will support capacity development by mentoring a novice author based in Africa through the review process. This continues the scholarship’s tradition of building knowledge and research networks, which will be actively supported by Cochrane South Africa.
Scholarships available for the Applied Conflict Transformation Studies [ACTS] programme for Africa, 2018 - 2020
Deadline for applications: 29th April 2018
The ACTS programme takes place under the joint auspices of the International Centre of Nonviolence at Durban University of Technology (DUT) and Grace to Heal, an NGO based in Bulawayo. It is taught by a highly skilled and experienced team, with both local and international staff. This practical programme is offered part-time over 2-2.5 years. Stage one involves three coursework modules, each of which requires up to 10 days residence in Bulawayo, plus guided study at home. Subject to satisfactory progress, students may proceed to stage two, a thesis based on action research. This involves two further residential sessions after formal registration at Durban University of Technology. The final qualification is a Master’s Degree in Management Sciences (MManSc). The programme is closely associated with the ACTS programme for Asia, based at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The procedure is for people to make a formal application for the course by filling in the forms, and attach a request for scholarship support. Information can be obtained at the email address below.
Contact: actsafricamaprog@gmail.com
Seventy-first World Health Assembly
21-26 May 2018, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland
The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of WHO. It is attended by delegations from all WHO Member States and focuses on a specific health agenda prepared by the Executive Board. The main functions of the World Health Assembly are to determine the policies of the Organization, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget. The provisional agenda includes: Addressing the global shortage of, and access to, medicines; the global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property; preparation for a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on ending tuberculosis; physical activity for health; maternal, infant and young child nutrition; safeguarding against possible conflicts of interest in nutrition programmes; and poliomyelitis – containment of polioviruses.
The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa 15th General Assembly: Africa and the Crisis of Globalisation 17 – 21 December 2018, Dakar, Senegal
Deadline for abstracts or panel proposals: 15 April 2018
The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) announces its 15th General Assembly in Dakar, Senegal from 17-21 December 2018. The theme chosen for the General Assembly is ‘Africa and the Crisis of Globalization'. Scholars wishing to be considered for participation in the 15th Assembly as paper presenters or convenors of panels are invited to send abstracts or panel proposals for consideration by the CODESRIA Scientific Committee by 15th April 2018. Successful applicants will be expected to submit full papers for a second round of review by 1st July 2018. The selected participants in the GA will be informed in August 2018. Abstracts for paper presentation should not exceed 600 words while panel proposals should not exceed 1,200 words. Each should clearly indicate the sub-theme in which the paper or panel is located. The Council has created a portal on the website through which all abstracts and panel proposals will be submitted.
5th SA TB Conference 2018
12 15 June 2018 Durban, South Africa
Major advances in TB prevention and care have been made, especially in the six high burden countries (India, Indonesia, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa) yet an accelerated approach is needed to end TB, despite above 80% treatment success rates for drug sensitive TB, to ensure a more dramatic annual decline in TB incidence and prevention of TB deaths. Furthermore multidrug-resistant TB with an estimated 480 000 cases worldwide and a treatment success rate of just over 50% requires focussed interventions and an aggressive roll-out of available new drug regimens. South Africa has become the leader in the introduction of INH preventive therapy for people living with HIV for latent TB infection. Leadership is also required in other fields affecting progress, i.e. TB research, universal access to care and treatment, continued and energetic efforts for TB/HIV integration and TB financing. This conference brings together those looking to step up strategies and activities to end the TB epidemic.