Application Deadline: February 20th 2017
Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa
DAAD, a public funded, self- governing organization of the institutions of higher education in Germany, promotes international academic exchange as well as educational co-operation with developing countries through a variety of funding and scholarship programmes.
The Collaborative Masters of Science in Agricultural and Applied Economics (CMAAE) programme of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) is run in a network of 17 participating universities in 12 countries in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa.
The CMAAE PhD fellowship programme aims at building the staff capacity of network universities that may have inadequate capacity in teaching and research. The PhD should be in Agricultural Economics through coursework, research and thesis in the Sub-Saharan region among the CMAAE accredited universities within East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia).
DAAD in cooperation with the CMAAE Programme of AERC, is offering up to five (5) in-country, inregion scholarships for the Master of Science Programme in Agricultural and Applied Economics and eight (8) PhD scholarships in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
The objective of this cooperation is to support the national and regional postgraduate training programme offered by AERC.
APPLICANTS REQUIREMENTS
Masters
- Must have completed their last university degree less than six (6) years ago at the time of application;
- Applicants from Sub Saharan African countries i.e. nationals from Kenya, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Ethiopia are eligible for DAAD funding for studies at the five (5) CMAAE accredited universities [Makerere University (Uganda), Sokoine University of Agriculture (Tanzania), Egerton University and University of Nairobi (Kenya), and Haramaya University (Ethiopia)];
- Applicants from Botswana, Swaziland, Zambia, Mozambique, Lesotho and Namibia are also eligible for DAAD funding for studies as non-nationals at the five (5) CMAAE accredited universities listed above;
- Applicants will apply to AERC directly and only those shortlisted will be eligible to apply to DAAD through DAAD website portal. DAAD will undertake the final selection of MSc awardees from the shortlisted applicants.
Doctorate
A. PhD Fellowship Programme for CMAAE network faculty staff
- Must be a holder of masters in agricultural and applied economics, or related discipline;
- Must be a staff or potential staff member of a participating CMAAE university who is earmarked for staff retention to build department of agricultural economics capacity for teaching and research;
- Must be recommended by a participating network university. The recommendation letter must indicate the willingness of the university to absorb the candidate upon successful completion of his/her PhD.
B. PhD Programme for CMAAE graduates - Must have attained at least a Second Class Honours (Upper Division) or equivalent in
Agricultural Economics or related field from an accredited university; - Must have a Master’s Degree (with coursework and thesis component) in Economics,
Agricultural Economics or related fields from a CMAAE network university; - The coursework should have covered microeconomics, macroeconomics and quantitative
methods; - Possession of at least one relevant publication in a refereed journal will be an added advantage
- Evidence of engagement in economic management, research and/training in the public sector will be an added advantage;
- Applicants will apply to AERC directly and only those shortlisted will be eligible to apply to DAAD through DAAD website portal. DAAD will undertake the final selection of PhD
awardees from the shortlisted applicants.
Eligible Fields
- Fields of specialization covered in the CMAAE programme include Agricultural and Rural
Development, Agricultural Policy and Trade, Environment and Natural Resource Management, and Agribusiness Management. - Duration and Commencement
The duration of the Ph.D. programme is three (3) years and that of Masters is two (2) years, generally starting in September 2017.
Application Procedure and Deadline
Interested applicants must submit their applications for admission directly to the respective host universities (application procedure can be obtained from the respective university websites). Upon receipt of an admission letter, temporary admission letter or letter assuring admission from the specific university, the applicant should apply for scholarship by submitting the following documents via http://scholarships.aercafrica.org/ not later than February 20, 2017.
- Signed curriculum vitae; please use the Europass CV template
(http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu) - A signed copy of the DAAD Information Sheet for Students
- Certified copies of all university degree certificates
- Certified copies of all university transcripts
- At least temporary admission letter including fee structure of respective course (original or certified copy only), or an official letter assuring admission
- Letter of motivation [Maximum two (2) pages]
- Academic reference from at least a senior lecturer and proof of employment if applicable
(original only) - PhD proposals must demonstrate relevance to agricultural development
- Two (2) recommendation letters of academic referees
AERC will shortlist eligible applicants who will then be informed to apply to DAAD through DAAD web portal. DAAD will carry out their plagiarism tests on PhD proposals while AERC will communicate to the successful awardees thereafter.
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the AERC 2017/2018 Msc & PhD Scholarships for African Researchers.