AFRICAN ECONOMIC RESEARCH CONSORTIUM
Call for Application for PhD Thesis Research on Human Capital Development Grant Support 2022/2023
The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) was established in 1988 as a public not-for-profit organization devoted to the advancement of economic policy research and training in Africa. The Consortium’s mandate and strategic intent is built on the basis that sustained development in sub-Saharan Africa requires well-trained, locally based professional economists. AERC agitates the provision of capacity building in economic policy in Francophone and Anglophone African countries through provision of support in the areas of policy research and graduate training.
AERC wishes to announce the 2022/2023 Ph.D. thesis research grant support to African graduate students registered in a PhD degree programme in Economics at institutions within or outside Africa. The support will be specifically to students whose thesis research proposal is on human capital development in Africa.
1 Research could also be targeted on a country or region.
The following are broad themes and sub-themes on human capital development in Africa for research:
1. Human Capital Formation and its Determinants (i.e., fertility, education and skills, health)
✓ Understanding Human Capital Formation and its Determinants
✓ Measuring and Interpreting Inequality
✓ Family Economics and Human Capital in the Family
✓ Health Human Capital and Economic Growth in Africa
✓ Intergenerational Mobility in Africa
2. Human Capital Drivers and Consequences (Population, Skills Acquisition, Migration, and Impacts)
✓ Measuring and Assessing Skills
✓ Human Capital Flight: Stratification, Globalization, and the Challenges to Tertiary Education in Africa
✓ The Human Resource Crisis in Health Services in Africa
✓ The Impact of Brain Drain on Economic Development in Africa
3. Human Capital Depletion (Health and Longevity, Investment/Financing Quantum)
✓ Health and Schooling Investments in Africa
✓ Financing Human Capital Investment
✓ Climate Change and Human Capital
✓ Climate Change, Disease and Gender Gaps in Human Capital Investment
✓ Human Capital Formation and Foreign Direct Investment
✓ The Cost of Diseases on Human Capital Investment in Africa
Eligibility Criteria and Application Procedure for PhD Thesis Research Awards
Graduate students are eligible to apply for this award provided:
• They are African graduate students registered in a doctoral degree programme in Economics at a recognized university either within or outside Africa;
• They have completed all course requirements for the degree;
• They have successfully defended their proposals and they are in the writing phase of the dissertation;
They have not received any other funding to support these dissertation activities outlined in the PhD proposal/budget; and
Application Procedure
Requests should be supported by the following documentation:
• Evidence of registration in a recognized PhD programme in Economics.
• A copy of approved research proposal, complete with clearly defined objectives, substantial literature review, a well‐outlined analytical framework as well as pertinent research methodology.
• A letter of reference from the thesis supervisor.
• A description of the plan of work for the thesis research including details of fieldwork and write up.
• A detailed budget.
• Evidence of any additional financial support that may be necessary to complete the programme.
• A curriculum vitae.
Application Deadline
The deadline for applying for the PhD thesis research grant is August 1st, 2022. Application should be referenced: PhD Thesis Research Grant on Human Capital Development Grant Support 2022/2023. Applicants should submit their application to:
Director of Training
African Economic Research Consortium (AERC)
3rd Floor, MEBANK Towers, Jakaya Kikwete Road
P.O. Box 62882-00200 Nairobi, Kenya
Tel (254-20) 2734163; 722205272; 733333298
Email: training@aercafrica.org
Click on the link below to read more, apply and share widely:
AERC Call-for-Application-for-PhD-Thesis-Research-on-Human-Capital-Development-Grant-Support-2022
Procedures for Processing Applications for PhD Thesis Research Grants
Procedures and processes in reviewing applications for PhD thesis research support are outlined below:
Step 0:
Advertisement/call for proposals are through the AERC website, university monitoring, research sensitization visits and other AERC events.
Step 1:
Proposals and supporting documents are received by the Training Administrator, who consolidate the documents and submit to the Manager Training Programme for initial review to ensure relevance to AERC mandate.
Step 2:
The Manager Training Programme then identifies and submit proposals for external review-technical assessment by two specialists in the field of research.
Step 3:
Reviewers make comments based on terms of reference provided by the Secretariat, which are communicated to the author for comment and incorporation (duration: 1-2 months). Delays by selected reviewer (s) of one month without communication with the Secretariat will result in the selection of a substitute reviewer.
Step 4:
Author re-submits revised proposal, which is subjected to a second assessment by the external reviewer for confirmation of the extent to which the author considered the recommended changes and undertook revisions (time: 1-2 months).
Step 5:
Once the proposal is cleared by at least two external reviewers, the reviewed proposals and the comments of the external reviewers are presented to the Programme Sub-Committee (PSC) during the Biannual Research Workshop in June and December, who go through the recommendations of the reviewers and make recommendation to the Programme Committee (PC) to approve for funding.
Step 6:
PC reviews recommendation and approves at its discretion subject to availability of funds (June and December).
Step 7:
Secretariat determines the amount of each grant and disburses the same under specific contract with the applicant and reports back to the PSC and the PC at subsequent meetings.
