News

PASET RSIF Call for University Selection

Pauline Achoka
21 Jun 2016 0

The Partnership for skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) is an Africa-led initiative with the objective of strengthening the science, technology and engineering capability in sub-Saharan Africa to further its socio-economic transformation. The PASET Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF) will contribute towards training 10,000 PhDs in the fields of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (ASET) for priority sectors in 10 years, and building the capacity of a core of African universities to provide these trainings. The RSIF will be implemented through competitively selected universities in sub-Saharan Africa, which have the capacity to offer PhD programs in the selected thematic areas. The RSIF has been seeded by contributions from the Governments of Senegal, Rwanda and Ethiopia. The Association of African Universities (AAU) has been selected to administer the RSIF.

In RSIF’s first phase, the Africa Centers of Excellence (ACEs) that were selected for financing under the World Bank project will be invited to submit proposals for PhD programs to be included in the RSIF.  Proposals are to be submitted to AAU and will be independently evaluated by expert committees.  Between 4-6 Centers will be selected to be host institutions for the RSIF. These Centers will invite PhD applications according to the admission criteria and eligibility criteria laid down by RSIF.  In the first phase, PhD programs in the following four thematic areas will be considered: Energy, Information & Communications Technology, Food security, and Mining, Minerals & Materials Sciences. The scholarship covers full tuition costs, stipend to cover living expenses, textbooks and research materials.  About 60 PhD students will be financed in the first cohort (about 15 per center). Read full story at AAU.org >