Apply for the Iso Lomso Fellowships for Early Career African Researchers 2024 (Fully Funded)

Iso Lomso fellowships provide a three-year attachment to STIAS to enable fellows to develop and conduct a long-term research programme of their preference. The aim is to facilitate and support them towards becoming established scholars in their fields.

Application Deadline: 15 February 2024

Iso Lomso means ‘the eye of tomorrow’ in isiXhosa: seeing towards the future, laying the foundations for tomorrow. The programme is aimed at African scholars who have obtained a doctoral degree within the preceding seven years and who hold an academic position at a university or research institution anywhere in Africa. Candidates should have established a research programme and have completed a post-doctoral fellowship or equivalent post-PhD programme. All disciplines are considered.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for the 2024 call, applicants must:

• be a national of any African country;
• be born after the 1st of January 1981;
• have an affiliation at a research or higher education institution in an African country, and continue to do so for the foreseeable future;
• have obtained a doctoral degree from any recognised higher education institution (worldwide) after the 1st of January 2016;
• have completed a post-doctoral fellowship or equivalent post-PhD research programme;
• be in a position to commence a first period of residency at STIAS during 2025.

Benefits of the Iso Lomso Fellowships

Residence at STIAS

A three-year attachment to STIAS during which time you may spend a total of ten months in residence at STIAS to develop and pursue a long-term research project

Links to sister institutions

The possibility of a residency at a partner institute for advanced study or other research intensive institution abroad

International conferences

Funding to attend up to two international conferences or training workshops anywhere in the world

Your own workshop

Support to convene a workshop with collaborators at STIAS or at their home institution

Support for your institution

Lecturer replacement subsidy for your home institution during residency periods

Timeline:

• Shortlisted candidates may be contacted during May 2024 for any additional information that may be required about their proposed projects.
• A final selection will be made by the end of May 2024 and successful candidates will be contacted during June 2024.
• These dates may change and will be updated on this page.

How to Apply

Please fill out the application form linked below. The following documents, all in PDF format, must accompany your application:

1.  A motivational cover letter of not more than one page in length. The letter should include a description of the applicant’s academic career, detailing the ideas and experiences that have shaped and motivated his or her intellectual work.
2. A pre-proposal for a three-year research project. This is a short essay of two to three pages which provides (i) a summary of the applicant’s current research/work, (ii) the main thesis of the proposed research project, including the problem statement and aim of the project, (iii) an overview of existing literature and other sources for the project, (iv) the project’s theoretical background and methodological approach, (v) the significance/relevance of the project for African scholarship, and (vi) a provisional time framework with proposed periods of residency at STIAS, additional activities, and research outputs.
3. One or two recent writing examples authored by the applicant (articles or book sections) related to the proposed project.
4. A copy of the applicant’s doctoral certificate.
5. An up-to-date Curriculum Vitae
6. A letter of support from your home institution (either from the head of department, dean of faculty, principal of college, or equivalent) which contains a confirmation of the applicant’s academic position and an assurance from the institution that the applicant will be released for residential research periods. 
   Institutions are reminded that STIAS provides teaching replacement funding during periods of residency, and that research residencies aim not only to develop candidates’ own research profiles, but also to develop a cohort of academic leaders to the benefit of scholarship in the continent.
7. Two letters of recommendation from scholars who are familiar with the applicant’s work, preferably one from the applicant’s current home institution and one from another institution. The letter should be printed on an official institutional letterhead and should include the name of the recommender, the academic position of the recommender, an indication of how long and in what capacity the recommender has known the applicant, and an evaluation of the merit of the applicant’s proposed project and ability to complete the proposed work during three years. The letters of recommendation will be confidential and should be sent by the recommender directly to [email protected].

Get started

1. DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION FORM
Word document (DOCX)
Open/Download this Call for Applications as a PDF document here

2. SUBMIT THE FORM WITH DOCUMENTATION
Email to: [email protected]
(for postal entries, please contact the coordinator first)

Enquiries

Please address any enquiries to:

Ms Nel-Mari Loock
Iso Lomso Coordinator
+27 21 808 2652
[email protected]

For more information, VISIT HERE

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