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Call: 4-month Interdisciplinary Fellow Group (Junior/Senior) at the University of Ghana
Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA)
Call for Applications
The Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) offers
a 4-month Interdisciplinary Fellow Group (Junior/Senior)
at the University of Ghana in the period from mid-January to June 2021
Application deadline: September 30, 2019, 24 h CET
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. More specific sub-topics under this umbrella prominently include sustainable democracy, sustainable peace and conflict management and environmental transformation as well as migration and displacement, restitution of cultural objects, and human rights research. Overarching aims of MIASA are working towards a reduction of global asymmetries in knowledge production and bridging the cultural divide between anglophone and francophone Africa. MIASA, established in 2018, serves as a hub for exchange, networking and collaboration amongst leading researchers from Germany, Ghana, the African and European continents and beyond. It is located on the beautiful campus of the University of Ghana at Legon (Accra).
In the period from mid-January to June 2021, MIASA will fund an Interdisciplinary Fellow Group (IFG) for 4 months.
An IFG brings together a group of up to six fellows for a duration of four months. The group comprises both senior and junior fellows including researchers from Germany, Africa and other parts of the world. One group member serves as the convenor and organizer of the IFG (see also below under *Eligibility* and *Applications*). The group centers around a research question which necessitates the input of experts from different academic fields and backgrounds. The group will work on the joint topic by, among other things, holding weekly colloquia and organizing a final workshop or conference. The group will be required to produce working papers based on their work at MIASA. Members of the group will also be expected to contribute a guest lecture on a relevant postgraduate course in the curriculum of the University of Ghana.
The thematic proposals that are submitted must address in one way or another MIASA’s umbrella topic, ideally one or more of the more specific topic areas listed above, adopting an interdisciplinary theoretical or methodological approach.
The IFG will be awarded to researchers of top academic quality with an innovative and high quality research topic, and will be selected through a highly competitive, strictly merit-based selection process.
The fellowships are held for four months in the period from mid-January to June 2021. The successful applicants will become MIASA fellows with all the corresponding rights and obligations for the requested funding period.
The fellows’ salary costs will be met by MIASA on the principle of “no loss, no gain,” for every full fellowship month, and paid directly to his/her home institution. Furthermore, fellows will receive a monthly allowance of 400 €. For fellows affiliated with an African institution at the commencement of the IFG, this monthly allowance will be 1.000 €.
Non-affiliated senior fellows receive a monthly grant of 2.000 € in total. Non-affiliated junior fellows will receive a monthly grant of 1.200 €.
For all fellows MIASA will provide accommodation and reimburse travel costs. In addition, a contribution to support research undertaken at MIASA (max. 250 €/ fellow month) can be granted upon application.
The Institute provides its fellows with modern office space and an up-to-date infrastructure. Fellows have full access to all library services at the University of Ghana. A full-time presence of fellows at MIASA for the fellowship period is expected.
The Institute supports academic exchange across existing boundaries: between disciplines, between different cultures and countries, between established and younger researchers. Furthermore, MIASA engages in activities opening the research community to society and politics. Fellows will be part of this community and profit from the lively research environment of the university.
MIASA is committed to inclusion and gender equality. The MIASA fellowship program aims for gender parity and is promoting affirmative action policies.
Eligibility
Eligible for application are groups of four (minimum) to six junior and senior researchers from all countries after completion of their PhD in a relevant discipline of the Humanities or the Social Sciences. The research topic proposed is required to match MIASA’s umbrella topic, and ideally one or more of the following more specific sub-topics: sustainable democracy, peace and conflict management, environmental transformation, migration and displacement, restitution of cultural objects, human rights research. The application will be submitted by a single person, who will also serve as the convenor and organizer of the IFG. Eligible for the role of convenor/organizer is a senior researcher (more than 6 years after completion of their PhD) or an experienced early career researcher (4-6 years after completion of their PhD) based at an institution in sub-Saharan Africa (preferably Ghana) or in Europe (preferably Germany) at the time of the application deadline.
Applications
The application will be submitted by a single person, who will also serve as the convenor and organizer of the IFG all through the application process and, in the case of success, during its funding period. This main applicant thus applies with a set team consisting of 4-6 members in total. The completed application form together with the required documents has to be uploaded on the application webpage (https://frias.wufoo.com/forms/miasa-ifg-202021/) and submitted by September 30, 2019; 24.00h CET.
Information on the application and selection process (required documents, eligibility criteria, evaluation criteria, timeline and stages of the selection process) is provided at: https://www.ug.edu.gh/mias-africa/.
NOTE: It is required that researchers interested in an application for an IFG contact MIASA via miasa@ug.edu.gh in advance to preparing an application.
Selection
The all-important selection criteria are the academic excellence of the main applicant, the team members, and the project proposal. Additionally, what will be taken into account is the required experience and capability to conduct the research project as a team, the fit of the proposed topic with MIASA’s umbrella topic and its more specific research strands, and the interdisciplinarity of the project.
An international selection committee will be responsible for the selection of the fellows.
Proviso
This call is published with the proviso that the Federal German Ministry of Research (BMBF) will grant funding for MIASA’s main phase (2020 to 2026). In the case of success, calls such as this will be launched on an annual basis until 2024.
