The Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa program, launched in 2011, responds to an emerging dilemma within higher education in the global South caused by the extraordinary emphasis on increasing undergraduate enrollment without proportionate investment in faculty development, limiting the ability of universities to produce the next generation of researchers, faculty, technocrats, and leaders. 

The program currently operates to strengthen tertiary education in Africa by offering a sequence of fellowship opportunities for promising PhD students to undertake research and make steady progress toward the completion of their doctoral degree and one post-doctoral fellowship:

  • Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Fellowship: Supports short-term research costs of up to US$3,000 to develop a doctoral dissertation proposal
  • Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship: Supports 6–12 months of doctoral dissertation research costs of up to US$15,000
  • Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship: Supports a one-year leave from teaching and administrative responsibilities through a stipend of up to US$10,000 to permit the completion of a doctoral dissertation

The program also offers activities that nurture the intellectual development of its fellows by connecting them to one another to create a pipeline for the development of faculty and research communities working on peace, security, and development topics across the continent.

Currently, the program supports doctoral candidates enrolled in universities in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Programs & Projects

Fellowship

Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship

The doctoral dissertation completion fellowship supports a one-year leave from teaching and administrative responsibilities through a stipend up to US$10,000 to permit the completion of a dissertation that advances research on peace, security, and development topics.
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Fellowship

Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Fellowship

Doctoral dissertation proposal fellowships support PhD students working on developing a doctoral dissertation research proposal as well as students who recently completed a master’s degree and seek to enroll in a PhD program.
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Fellowship

Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship

The doctoral dissertation research fellowship supports 6-12 months of dissertation research costs of up to US$15,000 on a topic related to peace, security, and development. This program also offers two workshops each year to help fellows to further develop and strengthen their research, engage key literature in their fields, embark on fieldwork-based research, and develop their capacity for scholarly writing, including academic publications.
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Fellowship

Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa: Post-Doctoral Writing Fellowship

The dissertation-based writing fellowship enables the recipient to buy time off from teaching and administrative duties to focus exclusively on finalizing an article for a peer-reviewed journal or completing a book manuscript based on a Next Gen-supported doctoral dissertation that advances research on peace, security, and development. This fellowship is exclusively available for Next Gen alumni.
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