African Biodiversity Fellowship 2024 for Emerging Genomics Leaders

AfricaBP Open Institute African Biodiversity Fellowship 2024 for Emerging Genomics Leaders. Apply below.

When is Application Deadline:

18th March, 2024

Tell Me About African Biodiversity Fellowship:

The African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP) was established in 2021 with a goal of sequencing 100,000 genomes in 10 years (Ebenezer, et al., 2022). The Knowledge Exchange and Industry Grand Challenge of AfricaBP established the Open Institute for Genomics and Bioinformatics as an avenue for human resource development across Africa (Sharaf, et al., 2023, 2024). AfricaBP is partnering with Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA, to launch the first stage of a comprehensive leadership program: The African Biodiversity Fellowship for Emerging Genomics Leaders, with the aim of building project-based genomics and bioinformatics leadership across Africa.

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Scope of the Fellowship 

This Fellowship program will be a hybrid of regional and international fellowships, and the below is the scope:

• Applicants institutions will nominate prospective Fellows.
• Fellows will be selected across African organizations participating in the AfricaBP Open Institute regional workshops through a competitive process.
• The Fellowship will comprise two phases: African and international phases. Fellows will be required to complete both phases as a requirement for Fellowship completion:
  • African phase: To fulfill the African phase of the Fellowship, selected Fellows will spend one month residency/internship in any African Genomics Centre, institution and organization with active genome sequencing capabilities and projects who use and have access to any (or all) of the following sequencing technologies or computing resources: Illumina, MGI-Tech, PacBio, Oxford Nanopore, High Performance Computing, Cloud Computing such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and/or Azure.
    • These African institutions may or may not be AfricaBP partners. Activities during this one month residency may vary between Fellows and host African institutions of choice but should ideally revolve around the three AfricaBP objectives stated above, and will need to be discussed and arranged between the prospective Fellows and the host African institution. We encourage applicants to spend time in an African organization in their home country or in a neighboring African country. The essence of the Africa phase of the Fellowship is to promote intra-African collaborations, including building linkages and awareness with existing Africa-based capacities. Examples of African organizations suitable for this phase include, but not limited to: African Genome Center in Morocco, African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases in Nigeria, International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya, Center for Epidemic Response and Innovation, South African Medical Research Council and Inqaba Biotec in South Africa respectively. Selected Fellows are responsible in arranging their place of residency or internship with an African Genome institution of their choice. AfricaBP will not facilitate this residency process but can provide a letter of introduction to the Fellow that they can take to their identified African Genome institution.
  • International phase: To fulfill the international phase of the Fellowship, selected Fellows will spend 3 months at the IGB, USA.
• Upon completion of the Fellowship, the Fellows will return to their home institutions to implement any (or all) of the three AfricaBP Open Institute objectives above (under Goals and objectives).

Goal and objectives

To develop active biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics capacities across Africa through comprehensive continental and global training. The training will equip African scientists to  achieve any, or all, of the following three objectives:

1. Development of leadership in genomics and/or bioinformatics, within the framework of interdisciplinary team science, required to set up and drive the proposed AfricaBP Open Institute Centers of Excellence on biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics.
2. Development of research programmes in biodiversity genomics and/or bioinformatics across African institutions.
3. Development of curricula in biodiversity genomics and/or bioinformatics across African institutions.

Which Fields are Eligible?

Type:

Who can Apply for African Biodiversity Fellowship?

1. Applicants must be a permanent staff (or have open-ended contract) in any African institution which:
   • Organized the 2023 AfricaBP Open Institute Regional Workshops OR
   • Hosted any of the AfricaBP practical genomics and bioinformatics workshops in 2023 OR
   • Whose poster adverts to organize regional or practical workshops in 2024 has already been publicized. 
2. Applicants should provide a letter of support or nomination from the Head of their institution who is at the rank of the Vice Chancellor (in the case of academic institutions), or Director General, Director or Chief Executive Officer (in the case of research centers) or equivalent rank. The letter of support should:
   • Highlight how this Fellowship will be beneficial to the home institution.
   • Highlight the home institution’s existing or futuristic commitment to develop curriculum and/or research programs in genomics and bioinformatics.
   • Highlight the support the home institution will provide to the prospective Fellow in order to develop curriculum and research programs in genomics and bioinformatics after completing the Fellowship.
   • Specify how the applicant is one of the most suited staff members to be nominated for this Fellowship. More than one applicant from the same institution can be nominated for this Fellowship. 
   • Specify that the prospective Fellow will be on paid sabbatical, administrative or study leave during the African and international phases of the Fellowship to allow Fellows focus 100 % on the Fellowship.
3. Applicants should have relevant experience in at least one of the below relevant areas:
   • Molecular biology
   • Genome sequencing, assembly, annotation, and/or bioinformatics
   • Sample collections and processing
   • Ethics and policy
4. Applicants can be at any stage of their career
5. Applicants should have ongoing or existing projects in biodiversity or agricultural genomics.
6. Applicants should be able to demonstrate that skills gained from this Fellowship will be applied to a future relevant project.
7. Applicants must also have a personal commitment to make a difference in their African communities.
8. To allow AfricaBP to demonstrate progression, retainment of trainees, and provide mentoring opportunities for previously trained candidates, selection preference will be given to candidates who have previously:
   • Completed an AfricaBP Open Institute regional practical workshop if they’re ranked equal amongst other qualified applicants OR
   • Completed a short-term training Fellowship if they’re ranked equal amongst other qualified applicants.
9. Applicants should have strong potential to contribute to the overall AfricaBP goals in genome sequencing, analysis, sample collections, ethics and policy.
10. Applicants participation in this Fellowship should further position them to become ambassadors and leaders in genome sequencing, analysis, and curriculum development targeted at biodiversity, sample collections, ethics and policy of African biodiversity genomics.
11. Applicants must have a strong interest in using interdisciplinary team science to advance major research goals.
12. The final selection of participants will reflect and consider diversity from African countries in the shortlisting process:
    • Geographical diversity: Selected participants will be from African countries as defined by the African Union geographical categorisation here: https://au.int/en/member_states/countryprofiles2 
    • Gender diversity: Selection of participants will reflect gender diversity in the shortlisting process.

Which Countries are Eligible?

Applicants from the following African institutions are eligible to apply (these institutions organized or are organizing AfricaBP Open Institute practical workshops in 2023/2024). List of eligible institutions can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uOzTTCXCdAHoM5ga1y7LMqe2vvSlu8s8cjL6LAGHAt0/edit?usp=sharing 

How Many Awards?

Not specified

What is the Benefit of African Biodiversity Fellowship?

Responsibilities of prospective Fellows’ home institutions 

1. Participating African institutions should have organized any of the 2023 AfricaBP Open Institute regional workshops, hosted any of the practical sessions, or whose poster adverts to do so in 2024 are already in the public domain.
2. Nominate and support the prospective Fellow’s applications. It is important that home institutions nominate candidates who have demonstrated commitment within the home institution’s environment to helping the home institution achieve any of the AfricaBP Open Institute objectives above.
3. Where applicable, sponsor the prospective Fellows Africa-based residency or internship. Sponsorship could be limited to travels and accommodation for up to one month.
4. Support the prospective Fellow to develop curriculum and/or research programs in biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics in the home institution upon completion of the international phase of the Fellowship 
5. Cover visa processing fees for selected Fellows, where applicable.
6. Cover health insurance for selected Fellows, especially for the international phase of the Fellowship
7. Approve paid sabbatical, administrative or study leave for selected Fellows for the duration of the Fellowship to allow selected Fellows focus on the Fellowship.

Responsibilities of prospective Fellows

1. Apply for the Fellowship on AfricaBP website.
2. Arrange with their home institution for nomination and provide a letter of support.
3. Identify African organizations for the residency or internship phase of the Fellowship in Africa.
4. Arrange with their home institution to develop proposals for research programs in biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics that could be implemented in their home institutions after completing the Fellowship. The proposal should also enable the Fellows to be able to design and deploy curriculum or research programs in their home institution.
5. Indicate in the application form top 3 research themes of interest at the IGB.

Responsibilities of selected Fellows

1. Apply for a visa for the international phase of the Fellowship.
2. Arrange with any of the African Genome Centers to observe up to one month residency or internship prior to starting the international phase of the Fellowship.
3. Commit to implementing the development of curriculum and/or research programs in biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics in the home institution upon completion of the international phase of the Fellowship 
4. If the home institution is not able to cover visa fees, travels, and accommodation for the African-phase of residency or internship, then the selected Fellow has the freedom to seek other sources of funding to cover these costs. Selected Fellows are also free to self-cover these costs, if they cannot find other funding sources outside their institutions.
5. Cover their health insurance, especially for the international phase of the Fellowship
6. Fellows should be on paid study or administrative leave during the African and international phases of the Fellowship to allow Fellows focus on the Fellowship

Responsibilities of AfricaBP

1. Provide scientific directions for the Fellowship.
2. Put out a call for applications and advertise the Fellowship program.
3. Shortlist and select Fellows.
4. Provide letter of support to selected Fellows for visa purposes.
5. Provide letter of recommendation to selected Fellows for residency/internship for the African phase of the Fellowship.
6. Be on the lookout for additional funding sources.

Responsibilities of international partner – IGB

The international partner, IGB, will cover the below for the selected Fellows for the duration of the international exchange in the USA:

1. Host 5 selected African Fellows at the IGB, USA, for 3 months.
2. Match selected African Fellows with a research group or scientific unit at the IGB with emphasis on any (or all) of AfricaBP objectives above. For additional details about research themes at the IGB, please visit: https://www.igb.illinois.edu/research-areas
3. Cover return travel ticket for selected Fellows
4. Cover accommodation for selected Fellows.
5. Cover catering or meals for selected Fellows.
6. Demonstrate required financial and in-kind support for visa application purposes
7. Provide honorarium for selected Fellows.
8. Provide laboratory space, equipment, consumables, reagents, and any computing resource, for selected Fellows 
9. Issue appointment letters to selected Fellows as Visiting Scholar at IGB
10. Be on the lookout for additional funding sources.

Expected outcomes

At the end of the Fellowship the Fellows should be able to do one, or all, of the following:

1. Develop curriculum for genomics and/or bioinformatics programs in their various institutions across Africa.
2. Develop research programs in genomics and/or bioinformatics in their various institutions across Africa.
3. Develop leadership in genomics/bioinformatics in the context of interdisciplinary team science in order to set up and drive the proposed AfricaBP Open Institute Centers of Excellence in Biodiversity Genomics and Bioinformatics

How Long will Award Last?

Early- and Mid- Career African Researchers, genomics leadership training: 4 months (September 2024 cohort)

Timeline

• Application review and selection process begins: Tuesday, 19th March, 2024
• Notification of successful applicants: Monday, 15th April, 2024
• Selected applicants begin Africa phase of leadership in their chosen African institutions: from Tuesday, 16th April, 2024
• Selected applicants begin their travel plans for international phase, including visa applications: from Tuesday, 16th April, 2024
• International phase of leadership Fellowship begins at IGB: September 2024
• International phase of leadership Fellowship ends at IGB: December 2024

How to Apply:

Apply below

Visit Award Webpage for Details