African Leadership Centre (ALC) 2017/2018 Peace, Security & Development Fellowships for African Scholars (Fully Funded to the UK)

Application Deadline:23:59 hrs, Sunday 30th April 2017.

The African Leadership Centre (ALC) was established in Kenya in June 2010 as a joint initiative of King’s College London and the University of Nairobi. The ALC is pleased to announce a call for applications for the Peace, Security and Development Fellowships for African Scholars starting in September 2017.

This Fellowship covers an 18-month period, comprising a rigorous training and research programme on peace, security and development, which includes a 12-Month MSc programme at King’s College London and a six-month attachment to an African University to undertake an independent research project. The Fellowship programme is designed to expose junior African scholars to the complexities of security and development issues facing the African continent.

The ALC aims to build a new community of leaders generating cutting edge knowledge on peace, security and development. To this end, the ALC undertakes to do the following:

• Taught MScs on Security, Leadership and Society, including mentoring and institutional attachments;
• Peacebuilding and Security research – with a focus on “Future Peace and the Role of the State in Africa”;
• Consolidating partnerships with African universities through transfer of specified and joint research outputs into virtual learning across partner institutions;
• Creating and strengthening digital knowledge transfer platforms and policy influencing processes.

Eligibility Requirements

• In order to be considered eligible, candidates must have citizenship in an African country.

• Successful candidates must hold valid travel documents prior to acceptance.

• The competition is open only to junior faculty members based in universities in Africa from departments of political science; international relations; history; law; development studies; peace; security and conflict studies, and related departments.

• Candidates need to demonstrate an interest in pursuing careers in the field of peace, security and development. Previous study or engagement with the issues of security and development is not required. However candidates must demonstrate a basic familiarity with these issues.

• Candidates must additionally be able to demonstrate capacity to undertake research on issues relating to peace and security in Africa. Successful candidates will be attached to a Research Cluster where they will work with ALC Research Associates and Senior Research Fellows to undertake research on select aspects of the ALC Research Agenda on “Future Peace and the Role of the State in Africa”.

• Candidates will be expected to have a clear plan on how to utilise knowledge gained in the Fellowship upon returning to their countries and academic institutions.

• Candidates must be fluent in spoken and written English.

• Candidates must be able to demonstrate the following values during the application phase: Independent thinking; Integrity; Pursuit of excellence; and respect for all forms of diversity.

Programme Details:

The Programme is divided into two phases:

Phase 1: The first phase consists of a 12-month training programme based at King’s College London. This phase will comprise of regular group mentoring sessions with renowned academics, policy analysts and practitioners.  It will also include a taught Master’s programme in Security, Leadership and Society, which will be taught at King’s College London. For a large part of this phase, Fellows will be based at King’s College London. In addition Fellows will spend brief periods at the African Leadership Centre in Nairobi and Institute for Development Studies at the University of Nairobi, where they will be required to undertake research and deliver research papers on peace, security and development in Africa.

Institutional Visits: During the 12-month period at King’s College in London, Fellows will undertake visits to academic, policy and research institutions working on issues of peace, security and development.

Phase 2: For the second phase, Fellows will be attached to select partner universities in Africa, for a period of 6 months. During this time Fellows will work as faculty members and contribute to academic and policy research among other activities. This phase is designed to encourage the dissemination and exchange of ideas on the issues that were studied during the first phase of the programme.

Mentoring: During both phases, Fellows will have access to the programme’s network of mentors, in the form of regular group mentoring and training on key thematic issues. One-on-one mentoring sessions will also be encouraged, so as to help guide students through the programme.

Research Project: Upon returning home to their universities after the attachment phase, Fellows will be expected to conduct a research project on a key aspect of peace, security and development, and to produce a research report and a policy brief from their research. These policy briefs will be published and disseminated amongst institutions of higher learning, in the region. This phase of research and writing will last for 6 months.

Funding:

• This is a fully funded* opportunity, not including any visa application and processing costs. Funds will be made available to cover tuition, subsistence in the UK and Africa, accommodation, research-related costs, and all travel expenses related to the programme. However, successful applicants are expected to find their own accommodation both in the UK and Africa.
• In the UK successful candidates will be able to apply for University of London accommodation, and they can also make their own accommodation arrangements. Candidates are strongly advised to make all necessary accommodation arrangements well in advance of taking up their positions at King’s College London.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the African Leadership Centre (ALC) 2017/2018 Peace, Security & Development Fellowships for African Scholars