MIASA Tandem Residential Fellowships 2023/2034 for African Researchers

MIASA Tandem Residential Fellowships Call for Applications for up to two Fellowships for 3-5 months each at the University of Ghana (for the academic year 2024/2025).

When is the Application Deadline:

31st August 2023 24h UTC

Tell Me About MIASA Tandem Residential Fellowships:

The Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) is dedicated to research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, with ‘Sustainable Governance’ as its central topic. Our main thematic corridors are conflict and sustainable peace, democracy and environmental transformation. We are also interested in a wide range of intersectional sub-topics, such as landownership and acquisition, migration and mobility, restitution of cultural objects, African cities, human rights and related themes. MIASA is committed to reduce global asymmetries in knowledge production, to promote female scholarship and to bridge cultural divides. The institute offers time and space for supporting innovative academic projects of top international quality. MIASA serves as a hub for exchange, networking and collaboration amongst leading researchers from Germany, Ghana, Africa, Europe and elsewhere in the world. The institute is located on the beautiful campus of the University of Ghana (UG) at Legon (Accra), and has been implemented in collaboration with four German partners – the University of Freiburg, the Goethe University of Frankfurt, the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and the German Historical Institute Paris (GHIP). It is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research with co-funding of the University of Ghana.

The present call is for up to two (2) tandem residential fellowships of minimum 3 and maximum 6 months each for the academic year 2024/2025 (the starting date is handled flexibly, earliest starting date for fellowship: 1st of June 2024; latest date for end of fellowship: 31st of July 2025). A tandem is composed of a team of two researchers – one who is based in an African country and one who is based in Germany – who apply together with a joint research topic, addressing MIASA’s overarching aims.

The call is open to scholars (both on junior and senior levels) who have been awarded their doctoral degree at least three months before the start of the fellowship. Projects can be at conceptional stage, mid-term phase or final stage (analyzing data, writing up findings).

Fellowships are residential with only short absences possible for activities such as conference participation and field work trips. Data collection cannot be the main purpose of a MIASA fellowship. The fellow selection is made by MIASA’s distinguished international Academic Advisory Board. In a strictly merit-based selection process, tandem fellowships are awarded to researchers of top academic quality with an innovative research topic of high quality. The all-important selection criteria are the academic excellence of the applicants and the fellowship proposal. MIASA is committed to gender balance.

MIASA supports academic exchange across existing boundaries: between disciplines, between different cultures and countries, between established and early-career researchers. Furthermore, MIASA engages in activities opening the research community to society, politics, and the arts. Tandem fellows are part of this community, and benefit from the lively research environment of the University of Ghana. Applications for tandem fellowships should indicate how the research project contributes to the activities at MIASA and, more broadly, to the academic life on Legon campus.

What Type of Scholarship is this?

Fellowship

Who is Eligible for MIASA Tandem Residential Fellowships?

 A tandem residential fellowship at MIASA is comprised of two researchers – one from Africa and one from Germany. They apply as a team for working together on a particular research topic, addressing MIASA’s overarching aims. The call is open to both junior (> 6 years after completion of PhD) and senior (> 6 years after completion of PhD) researchers.

How are Applicants Selected?

Projects can be at conceptional stage, mid-term phase or final stage (analyzing data, writing up findings). The selection is made by MIASA’s distinguished international Academic Advisory Board. In a strictly merit-based selection process, the tandem fellowships are awarded to researchers of top academic quality with an innovative and high-quality research topic. The all-important selection criteria are the academic excellence of the applicant and the fellowship proposal. MIASA is committed to inclusion, gender equality, and family friendliness. The MIASA fellowship program thus aims for gender parity and is promoting affirmative action policies.

Which Countries are Eligible?

African countries & Germany

Where will Award be Taken?

University of Ghana

How Many Fellowships will be Given?

2

What is the Benefit of MIASA Tandem Residential Fellowships?

• The successful applicants become MIASA fellows with all the corresponding rights and obligations for the requested funding period. For fellows affiliated with a home institution the fellows’ salary or teaching substitution costs are met by MIASA for every full fellowship month on the principle of “no loss, no gain,” and paid directly to his/her home institution. In cases where this is not possible an individual grant based on the candidate’s salary at his/her home institution can be offered. Fellows may be eligible for a post adjustment to compensate for the difference in the cost of living based on a case-by-case justification. Fellows without employment receive an individual monthly grant.
• For fellows from outside Accra, MIASA provides accommodation (or an equivalent accommodation allowance of up to 1500€/month) and reimburses travel costs. In addition, a contribution to support research undertaken at MIASA can be granted to all MIASA fellows upon application to MIASA directors (max. 250€ per fellow per month).
• MIASA fellows who come with family members to Accra can receive a family allowance. Fellowships are funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research via the University of Freiburg/FRIAS.
• The Institute provides its fellows with office space on the University of Ghana campus. Fellows have full access to all library services at the University of Ghana and, electronically, at the University of Freiburg, Germany. For fellows from francophone and lusophone Africa MIASA can offer funding for courses in advanced academic English during the fellowship at the University of Ghana. A full-time presence of fellows at MIASA for the entire fellowship period is required. Periods of leave need to be negotiated with the MIASA directors prior to the signing of the fellowship agreement, and must not exceed a total of more than 1/6 of the fellowship duration.

How Long will the Program Last?

The present call is for up to two (2) tandem residential fellowships of minimum 3 and maximum 6 months each for the academic year 2024/2025 (the starting date is handled flexibly, earliest starting date for fellowship: 1st of June 2024; latest date for end of fellowship: 31st of July 2025). A tandem is composed of a team of two researchers – one who is based in an African country and one who is based in Germany – who apply together with a joint research topic, addressing MIASA’s overarching aims.

How to Apply for MIASA Tandem Residential Fellowships:

Applications will be accepted in English and French. The completed application form together with the information indicated below have to be uploaded on the application webpage

Applications must include the following information in the Link below

GOODLUCK!

MIASA is offering information sessions for different groups of applicants via Zoom:

Information session for University of Ghana Faculty: Monday, 3 July 2023, 10:00 am (UTC). Zoom link: https://uni-freiburg.zoom.us/j/68082349306?pwd=S29sNW03UFJsSCsvVytrZTFTbjdtdz09

Meeting-ID: 680 8234 9306
Code: c3tG1v1X8

Information session for Francophone applicants from African universities: Monday, 10 July 2023, 10:00 am (UTC). Zoom link: https://uni-freiburg.zoom.us/j/69361927734?pwd=WXBUM1N1S0RMZUVMMnh4RnhaM0NqUT09

Meeting-ID: 693 6192 7734
Code: UtsJ1AT7i

Information session for Anglophone applicants from African universities: Monday, 17 July 2023, 10:00 am (UTC). Zoom link: https://uni-freiburg.zoom.us/j/61951362839?pwd=VFh6L1VoQnNEWlV5ZnpjZTltMlZHZz09

Meeting-ID: 619 5136 2839
Code: g1BxrHira

Visit MIASA Tandem Residential Fellowships Webpage for Details