A new African research fund has been launched by the Royal Society and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), called the Royal Society-DFID Africa Capacity Building Initiative. The fund is specifically designed to help form research consortia in Africa, arranging research exchange programmes between the United Kingdom and Sub-Saharan Africa. The scheme provides funding towards research expenses, travel and subsistence costs and PhD training, with limited funds for equipment and training in laboratories. The fund comes as part of a new collaborative initiative to strengthen research capacity in Africa by addressing the current skills gaps within higher education in Africa. Applications will be accepted in three research priority areas: water and sanitation, renewable energy and soil-related research.
Jobs and Announcements
Maker Faire Africa is a yearly pan-African maker faire and a community of makers. It gathers creative inventors, designers & fabricators that hail from Africa’s tiniest villages to expansive urban areas, with a shared commitment to origin, ingenuity & innovation. At the annual pan-African Maker Faire, local creators and manufacturers connect and redefine the future through authentic, African ingenuity.
CHESAI is calling for expressions of interest from African policy-makers and mid- to senior-level managers in the public health system in a short-term sabbatical of one to three months in Cape Town, South Africa. CHESAI is a four-year collaborative endeavour between the Schools of Public Health of the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of the Western Cape (UWC), funded by the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC). UCT and UWC are engaged in research and policy development with health system decision-makers on a range of health policy and systems’ issues, and also offer teaching programmes in these fields. Applicants must be working as a policy maker or manager in the public health system in an African country and have substantial experience in public health sector management and leadership to share and draw on. The sabbatical is an opportunity for you to contribute to and participate in health policy and systems research activities, such as a seminar series, and the wider academic life of the hosting organisations, an opportunity to read and engage with other practitioners and with researchers working in this field, and you will be given space to write up and present some of your experiences, with the aim to publish a paper or article.
The theme of this year’s South African HIV Clinicians Society Conference is 'Striving for Clinical Excellence'. The Conference will focus on clinical content, setting it apart from other conferences held to date in South Africa. Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are welcome to attend presentations by senior faculty members from the region and abroad delivering talks relevant to clinical care.
The International Health Economics Association (iHEA), which is hosting the July 2013 World Congress on Health Economics, is looking for abstracts and session proposals for the Congress. While all submissions in the field of health economics are welcome, the programme committee is particularly interested in the following topics: health care reform; universal coverage; health workforce; health technology assessment; econometrics; history of health economics; health status measurement; paying for health care; and reporting system performance. Session description and individual abstracts should not exceed 500 words.
As part of the United Nations (UN) led effort to catalyse a “global conversation” on the post-2015 agenda through a series of global thematic and national consultations, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), together with the Government of Sweden, have launched a global consultation around health. The purposes of the consultation are to: stimulate wide ranging discussion at global, regional and country levels, on progress made and lessons learnt from the present Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) relating to health; and discuss and develop a shared understanding on the positioning of health in the post-2015 development framework. WHO and UNICEF will also propose health goals and related targets and indicators for the post-2015 development agenda, as well as approaches for implementation, measurement and monitoring. The online global health consultation has now been launched online, at the address given above. You are urged to visit the website to review key documents, submit background papers, join moderated e-discussions and contribute to the discussion on twitter using the hashtag #health2015.
The International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) and Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) are hosting the 21st IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion, 25–29 August, Pattaya, Thailand. The conference aims to contribute to the development of equity and social justice across the globe by offering a unique platform for dialogue on the best investments for health between participants from various sectors from all over the world.
The Royal Society-DFID Africa Capacity Building Initiative is a programme for scientists in sub-Saharan Africa who want to collaborate on research between themselves and a research institution in the United Kingdom (UK). The overall aim of the scheme is to strengthen the research capacity of universities and research institutions in sub-Saharan Africa by supporting the development of sustainable research networks. The programme consists of two awards and will be delivered in two stages: Scientific Network Awards and Programme Grants. Applicants must be based in one of the eligible sub-Saharan African countries or the UK. Applications will be accepted in these research priority areas: water and sanitation, renewable energy, soil-related research, and value and tenure. The next round of funding opens on 1 November 2012.
To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Health Systems Trust has initiated an annual Emerging Public Health Practitioner Award and is calling on all young and emerging public health professionals to submit articles for inclusion in the South African Health Review (SAHR). The winning entry will be published in the SAHR and the winner will receive a cash prize of R5,000 (US$600), as well as meet with senior HST staff members to discuss areas for future interaction and collaboration. The competition is open to South Africans under the age of 35. Judges will be assessing submissions according to the following criteria: relevance of the topic to the local and international public health community and current policy environment in South Africa; scientific rigour and intellectual clarity; degree of innovation and originality; identification of good practices and hindrances to policy implementation; and possible policy implications.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is calling for applicants for its new Postdoctoral Fellowship in Community-Based Research. CAMH trains students and fellows in the field of mental health and addictions and the purpose of the fellowship is to provide a postdoctoral fellow with training in the techniques and principles of community-based research on mental health and addictions. Fellows can propose research in any area related to mental health and addictions, and can be supervised by any CAMH scientist. In addition to the usual academic requirements of CAMH fellows, successful candidates for this fellowship will be required to show that: their proposed research question is seen as a priority for the community under study; community members and/or organisations will be actively and meaningfully engaged in the research; and the research is likely to have a tangible impact for the community.