University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin

Application Deadline: March 30th 2018

MoBreed (Mobility for Breeders in Africa) is an initiative of five public universities from three African regions and one university in Europe to advance knowledge on useful crops of Africa and increase scholars’ capacity in addressing food security. Partners include the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin and Ebonyi State University in Nigeria (West Africa), the Jimma University of Ethiopia (Eastern Africa), the University of Namibia and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa (Southern Africa) and Montpellier SupAgro in France.

MoBreed (Mobility for Breeders in Africa), a consortium of five African universities together with one European technical partner, intends to:

produce 10 high profile plant breeders (PhD holders) that will address current and future challenges related to climate change and agriculture with focus on at least 10 promising underutilized plant species of Afric
train a new generation of 38 scientists (MSc holders) with strong capacity to increase knowledge and prospects on the selected orphan crops used in Africa for food and nutrition security and the crop production and seed industry,

harmonize seven MSc and six PhD training programmes and research agenda on the use of neglected and underutilized crops to increase resilience of food production systems,
enhance collaboration and programmatic agenda among five African higher education institutions that promote neglected and underutilized research and training for agricultural innovations within Africa.

Eligibility

To be eligible for a scholarship (i.e. financial support to third parties), master students as well as doctoral candidates referred to as ‘’students’’ must comply with the below criteria at the time of the application for a scholarship:

a) be a national and resident in any of the eligible countries covered by the Intra-Africa Mobility programme of the EACEA and

b) be registered/admitted in or having obtained a HEI degree (or equivalent) from

a. one of the HEIs included in the MoBreed consortium (Target group 1)

b. a HEI not included in the Mo breed consortium but established in an eligible country (Target group 2) and

c) have sufficient knowledge of the language of the courses in the host countries

Scholarship

For MSc students: maximum twelve-months credits or degree seeking mobility is available for target 1 and target 2 groups.

For academic staff: maximum two-months staff exchange mobility available for partner universities only.

The scholarship includes subsistence and settling-in allowances, participation costs, contribution to research costs, insurance and travel in line with Agreement with EACEA. It will cover:

roundtrip flight ticket and visa costs (using a preferred travel agent and calculated against direct linear distance);
direct participation costs such as tuition fees, registration fees and service fees where applicable;
comprehensive travel insurance (Health, Accident and Travel)
a monthly subsistence allowance for the mobility period

Application process

The MoBreed mobility grant is open to all students from any of the partner universities

(Target Group 1) and secondly to students from other African universities (Target Group 2).

Currently, 31 MSc scholarships and 10 Academic / Administrative staff exchange are available.

How to apply

The MoBreed mobility grant is open to all students from any of the partner universities (Target Group 1) and secondly to students from other African universities (Target Group 2).

Target Group 1:

This category includes students from all partners universities as follows:

University of Abomey-Calavi; Benin
University of Kwazulu-Natal; South Africa
University of Namibia; Namibia
Jimma University; Ethiopia
Ebonyi State University; Nigeria

Target Group 2:

All other African countries.

As soon as the call for applications is online, students or academic / administrative staff wishing to apply should send their application to:

Mrs. Lydia Sognon, [email protected] with copy to [email protected]

Admission regulations for Doctoral and MSc Studies are to be found from prospective HEIs website. This application is for MoBreed Project scholarships only. The Scholarship application form together with other required documents should be sent as a unique PDF attachment to: eamils indicated above. You may download the MS Word version of the application form, and complete it before sending. Important also is the student proposal that should be sent together within the application as ONE SINGLE DOCUMENT, preferably PDF. Otherrequired documents are listed in the application form and include:

Cover letter
Scholarship Application form (this document)
Student proposal (guidelines available online)
National ID or Copy of Passport Data page
Certificate of degree
Transcript records
Support letter from sending HEIs
Recommendation letter of home supervisor (mandatory for all applicants)
Enrollment proof in degree course from home institution (for MSc applicants)
Curriculum Vitae.
Employment certificate (only for staff)
Certificate of English or French language skills
Proof of socio-economic vulnerability (if available)

Applicants should submit completed application and all supporting documents by email to

[email protected] with copy to [email protected] by 30 March, 2018. They should indicate in the subject line (if submitting by email) or super scribe the envelope (if

submitting by post) ‘ Application for MoBreed MSc/Staff exchange programme‘. Incomplete applications will be rejected.

Applications should be sent to: Mrs. Lydia Sognon, [email protected] with copy

to [email protected]

Guidelines

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Mobility for Breeders in Africa (MoBreed) Masters & PhD Scholarships 2018

Mobility for Breeders in Africa (MoBreed) Masters & PhD Scholarships 2018 for African Students (Fully Funded)

Target Group 1:

Target Group 2: