Deadline: 1-Feb-21

The African Peacebuilding Network (APN) of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is inviting research fellowship applications from African researchers, policy analysts, and practitioners working on conflict and peacebuilding issues at universities and research institutions; or regional, governmental, and nongovernmental agencies or organizations in Africa.

A core component of the APN, the Individual Research Fellowships (IRF) program is a vehicle for enhancing the quality and visibility of independent African peacebuilding research both regionally and globally, while making peacebuilding knowledge accessible to key policymakers and research centers of excellence in Africa and around the world.

The program also strives to build a highly visible and active network of African scholars and practitioners capable of projecting African perspectives and voices onto global discourses and practices of peacebuilding.

Fellowship recipients produce research-based knowledge that is relevant to, and has a significant impact on, peacebuilding scholarship, policy, and practice on the continent. For its part, the APN works toward inserting the evidence-based knowledge that fellowship award recipients produce into regional and global debates and policies focusing on peacebuilding.

During the fellowship period, recipients are required to participate in two mandatory workshops organized by the APN. These workshops will provide opportunities to refine recipients’ research designs, focus and methods; present findings; explore ways to make their work more accessible through publications and other means to multiple peacebuilding constituencies; networking, and developing constructive working relationships with other fellows, senior academic, and practitioner facilitators.

Fellows are also strongly encouraged to contribute to the APN’s Working Paper and Policy Briefing Note series, as well as to the program’s digital forums and social media platforms (Kujenga Amani, Facebook, and Twitter).

Support is available for research and analysis on the following issues:

• Root causes of, and emerging trajectories of violent conflict;
• Natural Resource Conflict;
• Geopolitics and histories of conflict and peace;
• Minorities, under-represented groups, and the social dynamics of conflict and peace;
• Theory and practice of conflict mediation;
• Resilience, conflict prevention and transformation;
• State and non-state armed actors, transnational crime, extremism, displacement and migration;
• Post-conflict elections, democratization, governance and economic reconstruction;
• State building, including state-society relations and state reconstruction;
• Transitional justice, reconciliation, and peace;
• The economic and financial dimensions of conflict, peacekeeping, and peace support operations;
• Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and peacebuilding;
• UN-AU-REC Partnerships and Peace Support Operations;
• Digital media, technology, and peace;
• Cultures, media, and art(s) of peace;
• Gender, youth and peacebuilding;
• Water conflict and peace;
• Public health, post-conflict development, peace, and security;
• Prevention of mass atrocities; and
• Covid-19, conflict, peace and development.

Funding Information

• Fellowships are awarded on a competitive, peer-reviewed basis and are intended to support six months of field-based research, from June 2021 to December 2021. Up to seventeen (17) individual fellowships of a maximum of $15,000 each will be awarded. Women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Research Fellowships Proposals

• The APN is interested in innovative field-based projects that demonstrate strong potential for high-quality research and analysis, which in turn can inform practical action on peacebuilding and/or facilitate inter-regional collaboration and networking among African researchers and practitioners.
• Proposals should clearly describe research objectives and significance, with alignment between research questions and goals and research design/methods. Proposals should also demonstrate knowledge of the research subject and relevant literature, and address the feasibility of proposed research activities, including a timeline for project completion.
• Applicants should also discuss the likely relevance of the proposed research to current knowledge on peacebuilding practice and policy and situate it within existing literature. They strongly encourage the inclusion of a brief, but realistic, budget outline, keeping within the allotted amount for the fellowship and fitting appropriately within a six-month project and the page limit required.

Eligibility Criteria

• All applicants must be African citizens currently residing in an African country. This competition is open to African academics, as well as policy analysts and practitioners.
• Applicants who are academics must hold a faculty or research position at an African university or research organization, and have a PhD obtained no earlier than January 2011.
• Applicants who are policy analysts or practitioners must be based in Africa at a regional or sub-regional institution; a government agency; or a nongovernmental, media, or civil society organization, and have at least a master’s degree obtained before January 2016, with at least five years of proven research and work experience in peacebuilding-related activities on the continent.

Application Process

• All applications must be uploaded through our online portal.

Requirements

• Completed Application Form;
• Research Proposal & Bibliography;
• Expected Publication(s);
• Current CV;
• Proposed Research Timeline;
• Proposed Research Budget;
• Two Reference Letters;
• Language Evaluation(s) (if required).

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