Small Grant Fellowships - Call for Applications

Small Grant Fellowships

Call for Applications

The ARUA Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Notions of Identity is an ARUA CoE whose goal is to establish, expand and deepen scholarship around the notion of identity in Africa. The CoE in Identities, hosted at Makerere University, is a consortium of six universities including Makerere University, Addis Ababa University, Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Witwatersrand, University of Rwanda and University of Ghana. 

The CoE in Identities received a capacity building grant from the UKRI to implement the project Strengthening Capacity for Research and Policy Engagement in Shifting Notions of Motherhood and Fatherhood for Improved Children’s Wellbeing in Africa (SCaRPE-A) (Jan 2021 to Dec 2023). SCaRPE-A is a consortium of six partners including Makerere University, University of Witwatersrand, University of the Western Cape, University of Rwanda, Moi University of Kenya and University of Ibadan. The goal of SCaRPE-A is to strengthen the capacity of the collaborating universities’ Gender Studies and Social Work Departments/Schools to teach and research shifting notions of motherhood and fatherhood, and to strengthen their engagement in research uptake strategies with policy makers and non-academic partners.

The CoE now invites eligible candidates to apply for small grants of up to USD 6,000 to conduct research in identities of motherhood and fatherhood in Africa. This small grant fellowship call has two broad aims:

1. Expand the pool of researchers working on identities in partner universities, and
2. Deepen the study of the changing notions of motherhood and fatherhood in Africa and its implications on child well-being.

Most research on parenting in Africa has been skewed in favor of maternal and child health, leaving a dearth of knowledge on motherhood and fatherhood in general, in Africa, and how these have been impacted by contemporary challenges such as neoliberalism, conflict, COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS. Applications that demonstrate creativity in studying changing notions of parenting, families and how it affects child wellbeing will be highly considered. Successful applicants will develop their potential to become excellent researchers within a structured mentored training environment under the auspices of the ARUA Centre of Excellence in Identities and its spoke universities.

The doctoral research fellowship will run over two years (24months), while the individual grantee research fellowships will be for one year (12 months). Candidates who demonstrate an interest in pursuing a research career will be preferred. The funding for this call will come from the small grant fund of the UKRI funded SCaRPE-A project of the ARUA Centre of Excellence in Notions of Identity in Africa.

Eligibility Criteria:

1. Be a PhD Student or a Post-Doc who graduated not more than five years ago.
2. Work or be registered in a PhD program in the partner University to SCaRPE-A, i.e. Makerere University, University of Ibadan, University of the Western Cape, University of Witwatersrand, University of Rwanda and Moi University of Kenya.
3. Reside in any of the countries in the SCaRPE-A project, i.e. Uganda, Nigeria, Republic of South Africa, Rwanda or Kenya.  
4. Doctoral applicants must be currently registered on a PhD program in related areas of this call.
5. The applicant will need to work under the terms of the grant.

The small grant will cover costs related to: baseline study, data collection, analysis, report writing, computing costs and consumables. Applicants should provide a detailed budget and plan of activities stipulated in their proposals.

Application Process:

The application dossier should include:

1. A 150-word abstract.
2. A one-page academic biography describing your academic career and detailing the ideas and experiences that have shaped your work and your future plans.
3. A five-page proposal explaining the research focus, why it is important and how it will be conducted. Applicants should provide evidence of their ability to plan and organise independent research in Humanities or Social Sciences.
4. Recommendation letter from your supervisor or Head of the Unit.
5. Planned activities.
6. Budget

1. A research report and publishable paper.
2. Present one (1) paper at an ARUA CoE Identities related academic event/workshop/symposium/Conference.
3. Submit a progress report after every three (3) months.

Applications should be submitted to: info.coeidentities@mak.ac.ug no later than November 30, 2021.

For more details Contact: Ms. Salama Nakiranda at Salama.Nakiranda@gmail.com, Mobile: +256778935150