The APN and Next Gen program of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) partners with fellows, universities, think tanks, non-profits, and non-governmental organizations to advance African peacebuilding across the continent and globally.
African University Seminar Series (AUSS)
The African University Seminar Series (AUSS) was established in 2023 by the APN and Next Gen program, creating a platform for fellows to organize national seminars that showcase research results emerging from their program-supported projects. The initiative aims to foster and strengthen national scholarly communities to promote the Afrocentric values of multidisciplinary research excellence, knowledge production, and policy engagement across the various regions of the African continent.
Institutional Partners
Peace and Development Researchers Association (PADRA)
The Peace and Development Researchers Association (PADRA) was birthed out of the African University Seminar Series – Kenya (AUSS-K) organized by the APN and Next Gen program in 2023. PADRA brings together APN and Next Gen current and former grantees/fellows who are based in Kenya to engage in an interactive dialogue on security, peacebuilding, and development in Africa.
Institute for Peace and Security Studies
As part of the APN and Next Gen’s core program component, the program hosts workshops across the continent bringing its fellows together from various African countries. In 2024, APN and Next Gen partnered with the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) of Addis Ababa University (AAU) to host a Writing and Dissemination Workshop for the 2023 cohorts of APN Individual Research Fellows (IRF) and Next Gen Doctoral Dissertation Proposal and Research Fellows in Ethiopia. Through this collaboration, the APN and Next Gen Writing and Dissemination workshop created an avenue for fellows to physically meet with mentors and peers to refine their writing skills and explore avenues for publishing their work.
Wilson Center
As part of the APN and Next Gen Policy Dialogue Series, the APN and Next Gen program and the Wilson Center co-hosted a public event in DC bringing together US state officials, policy thinkers, researchers and experts to discuss “Trendlines and Transformations in African Democratic Governance: Lessons for 21st-Century US-Africa Relations.” The event explored the current state of democratic governance in Africa, offering key insights for US and African scholars, policymakers, and practitioners by drawing on recent trends and emerging challenges.
Nigerian Institute of International Affairs
In partnership with the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), the APN and Next Gen hosted a Research Methods Workshop for the 2024 cohorts of APN and Next Gen Fellows in Lagos, Nigeria. The workshop created an opportunity for fellows to interact with each other, expand their network of peers, and engage in critical thinking and in conversations that inform and sharpen their perspectives on fieldwork-based research methods, dissertation, and academic writing.
West Africa Network for Peacebuilding
The APN and Next Gen program launched its inaugural Research Policy Fellowship (RPF) in 2024. As part of its partnership with the APN and Next Gen, the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) is hosting the first APN RPF awardee. This partnership goes a long way in supporting the program in its mission to bridge the gap between African peacebuilding research and policy.
University of Botswana
In line with the principle of moving fellows’ workshops across various countries and regions of Africa. The APN and Next Gen has partnered with the University of Botswana, which hosted the 2023 Research Methods Training Workshop and the Regional Proposal Writing Workshop for Southern Africa, to enable fellows finetune their research designs, networking and collaboration skills, while supporting early-career scholars in Southern Africa to expand their access to research opportunities, while strengthening their proposal writing capacities.