PhD Visiting Fellowships (VFP)
Call for Applications for the 2027 Cohort

Background

The AfricaLics network invites eligible PhD students enrolled at universities in African countries to apply for the AfricaLics PhD Visiting Fellowship Programme (VFP), 2027 cohort, which focuses on research in Innovation and Development (I&D).

The AfricaLics VFP was established in 2015 with financial support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). Since its establishment, 50 African PhD students from low- and lower-middle-income countries have participated in the programme, receiving training and mentorship support.

Successful candidates for the 2027 cohort will participate in a fellowship programme combining online pre- and post-activities with a study period of 3 months at the University of Johannesburg (UJ)[1] in South Africa.

Mentoring will be provided by a range of scholars in Innovation and Development (I&D) studies from the AfricaLics (www.africalics.org) and Globelics (www.globelicsnetwork.org) communities. The VFP 2027 will be hosted by and receive support from the Trilateral Research Chair in Transformative Innovation, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Sustainable Development (TRCTI) at UJ.  The chair constitutes a key hub in Africa for research on I&D in the African context and provides excellent opportunities for candidates to engage with key scholars in the field as well as to promote their career opportunities. More information about the chair and key scholars working there is available here: https://www.uj.ac.za/faculties/cbe/SARChI-TRCTI).

The 2027 VFP cohort activities will kick off with a range of online activities starting in the first half of February 2027. The study visit at UJ is scheduled for 6 September to 3 December 2027

and will be followed up by various additional online activities in December 2027 and in early 2028. After engagement in the programme, students are offered the opportunity to continue engaging with the AfricaLics community through participation in AfricaLics Alumni activities, AfricaLics research conferences, the AfricaLics webinar series, and activities organised by national chapters of AfricaLics (e.g. Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso). Through such activities, VFP alumni can continue to engage with and benefit from network activities while contributing to the development of African Innovation and Development studies. Possibilities to engage more VFP alumni in the Research Coordination Areas (see: https://africalics.org/thematic-areas-rcas) will also be explored.

Within the AfricaLics community, innovation is broadly understood to include both ‘new-to-the-world’ inventions and the diffusion and use of technologies that are new to a particular user or context. It also encompasses competence building among users of innovation. Technology here can mean both a physical product; a new process e.g. for manufacturing a product, and new ways of doing or organising things. Innovation and Development Studies research, as defined by the AfricaLics network, includes the study and management of processes that link technological and social innovation with development. This includes studies and improved understandings of how learning and competence-building systems contribute to development processes.

Scholars in the field may have a background in economics and/or other social sciences (e.g. Sociology, Political Science, Science and Technology Policy, Geography, History or Development Studies). Some work within the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects or even manufacturing. All scholars, regardless of their disciplinary backgrounds, look at one or more elements at the intersection between innovation and development. They work within a broad range of areas including energy and sustainable development/transformation, health, gender, agriculture, manufacturing and work organisation, big data and the fourth industrial revolution.

To understand more about the field of innovation and development and see if your work fits within this research area, please look at papers published in relevant journals including (but not only) the following: African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development; Innovation and Development; Research Policy; Journal of International Development; International Journal of Technology Learning, Innovation and Development; International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development; Journal of Development Economics; Journal of Science and Technology Policy; Journal of Evolutionary Economics and Journal of Technological Forecasting and Social Change (see: https://www.africalics.org/innovation-and-development-studies-resources/). For more info on the main thematic areas and research coordination areas addressed by AfricaLics, please see: https://www.africalics.org/thematic-areas/.

About the AfricaLics Visiting PhD Fellowship Programme

The AfricaLics VFP aims to support African PhD students working in Innovation and Development by strengthening their academic and research capabilities, improving the quality of their dissertations, and preparing them for careers in academia, the private sector, or government and policymaking. The AfricaLics VFP does this by increasing the mobility and level of exposure of the selected PhD students to international knowledge and research on innovation and development. The programme forms part of the broader AfricaLics efforts to contribute to the development of a vibrant research community in Africa in this emerging and highly multidisciplinary field.

The AfricaLics PhD Visiting Fellowship Programme 2027 will be jointly organized by a small AfricaLics RCS team based at African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) based in Nairobi, Kenya, and UJ’s DSI-NRF Trilateral Research Chair in Transformative Innovation, 4IR and Sustainable Development (‘UJ-TRCTI’) in South Africa. Both ACTS and the Trilateral Chair at UJ are spokes of AfricaLics. The AfricaLics VFP is implemented with scientific oversight and strategic advice from the AfricaLics Scientific Board (ASB). Members of the ASB Working Group on research capacity strengthening activities also participate in the assessment of applications received and advise on the final selection of PhD candidates. The relationship between the AfricaLics RCS team at ACTS and UJ and the ASB occurs through the AfricaLics Secretariat housed at NACETEM in Nigeria and the AfricaLics Secretary General and members of the AfricaLics Secretariat also participate in key VFP activities.

The programme implementation will be supported by senior AfricaLics and Globelics scholars based at other relevant African and international universities active in research on Innovation and Development. Relevant junior AfricaLics VFP and Academy alumni are regularly onboarded as mentors on the VFP to strengthen their capacity to participate in the build-up of African Innovation and Development Studies. Junior mentors will always be ‘paired’ with senior scholars from the AfricaLics or Globelics network.

Eligibility and selection criteria

The scholarship option is open to PhD students from countries in Africa classified by the OECD/DAC as low and lower-middle-income countries whose studies – irrespective of sectoral discipline – focus on the relationship between innovation and economic, social or environmentally sustainable development. Female PhD students are particularly encouraged to apply, as AfricaLics seeks to increase the representation of women in Innovation and Development research in Africa. Likewise, PhD students from low-income countries are particularly encouraged to apply because AfricaLics endeavours to strengthen research capacity in Innovation and Development in low-income countries in Africa.

Applicants must be enrolled as PhD students in a relevant programme at an African university and should preferably have completed their first year of PhD studies by December 2026. The final number of accepted visiting fellows will depend on the in-depth assessment of the quality and relevance of applications, funding available, and possibilities to secure relevant mentors that match the topics of PhD candidates applying for the fellowship. The visiting scholarship is complementary to the studies of the PhD students at their home universities, and applicants must already have secured basic funding for their PhD studies from other sources (e.g. African governments, other organisations, or self-financing).

For the 2027 VFP cohort, PhD students engaged in research relevant to the four AfricaLics Research Coordination Areas are particularly encouraged to apply. The Network currently has four established RCAs:

• STI Measurement in Africa
• Global Value Chains (GVCs), Innovation and Industrialization
• Innovating Resilience: Advancing Inclusive Agricultural Innovation for Climate Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Innovation and Sustainable Energy Transition in Africa (i-SET Africa)

More info about the RCAs can be found here: https://africalics.org/thematic-areas-rcas/

The students are selected through a rigorous assessment process using the following criteria:

1. Focus and relevance: The application should demonstrate clear relevance to Innovation and Development studies in Africa and to the emerging AfricaLics research agenda. Applicants should provide a clear justification for their research and specify their research questions.
2. A well-elaborated explanation of the theoretical and conceptual framework rooted in innovation and development studies and with a clear explanation on how this framework relates to the research questions.
3. Methodological clarity and rigor (application shows intention to address all research questions with adequate methods; data sources and data collection methods are clearly explained and relevant for the research).

Additional criteria include an assessment of whether the applicant will be able to benefit from involvement in the fellowship programme based on where they are in their PhD process and on availability of relevant AfricaLics mentors. Finally, female applicants and applicants from Low-Income Countries in Africa are given special consideration to increase diversity in the I&D community across Africa

Fellowship period, joint face-to-face meetings and work plans

The fellowship programme provides successful PhD students with the opportunity to engage in several online activities, including courses on writing skills and how to improve academic writing. Three short online courses are part of the programme: ‘How to write an Academic Journal Article’, and ‘ How to do systematic literature reviews’. In addition, each visiting fellow gets the opportunity to present and participate in up to 5 paper presentation seminars, including a paper presentation during the AfricaLics PhD Academy 2027, which is expected to take place in April 2027.

The study visits to UJ are scheduled to take place from 6^th September to 3^rd December 2027. The study visits will expose students to an international research environment focusing on Innovation and Development studies, including transformative innovation processes and the 4IR. Students will do presentations of their project work and benefit from interaction with other visiting fellows and PhD students working on innovation and development issues as well as scholars at UJ-TRCTI. The study visit will provide students with time off from their duties in their home country to focus on consolidating and improving their research, analyzing data collected from fieldwork, and writing articles or chapters for their PhD thesis.

During the full fellowship period, each student will be “matched” with one or two scholars with competencies in the field in which the student is active, who will act as mentors for the PhD visiting fellows. In this way, the AfricaLics Visiting Fellowship Programme will help strengthen research capabilities in Innovation and Development, drawing on internationally renowned scholars from Africa and beyond. The final selection of mentors depends on the topic and background of successful applicants.

It is important to stress that the AfricaLics VFP is complementary to the supervision that PhD students are expected to get from the universities where they are enrolled – and a programme which supports students through mentoring, additional training and networking activities. Hence, mentors are not formal supervisors, and full responsibility for the PhD study process remains with the PhD student and his/her supervisors from the university where the student is enrolled.

Activities under the AfricaLics PhD Visiting Programme should therefore also form an integrated part of the PhD work plan for each applicant. Depending on the rules and regulations at different African universities where applicants are enrolled, such plans typically include initial theoretical studies/taught courses, fieldwork in the home country or country where the student is already enrolled as a PhD student, exchange visits, and time for writing up articles and dissertation work. Applicants are encouraged to discuss how the AfricaLics VFP may be integrated in their studies with their home supervisors and the institution where they are enrolled prior to applying for the fellowship programme. At the beginning of the fellowship period, each fellow must develop a specific one-year workplan for discussion with their home supervisors and mentors as well as the academic coordinator of the VFP. Once finalised, the approved workplan must be signed by the student and his/her home supervisor and mentors. The signed workplan works a type of ‘contract’ specifying the main outputs on which the student will be working during the fellowship period.

Close interaction between the PhD student, home supervisor(s), and the mentors is required to ensure the fellowship and the study-visit contribute constructively to the studies of the PhD student. Trilateral meetings will be organised from the beginning of the scholarship period to facilitate this. Students must stay in touch with mentors and home supervisors through e-mail/WhatsApp or other online means. They must also document discussions and share notes from meetings with mentors and home supervisors to ensure transparency in the joint supervision and mentoring process.

Most encounters between students, their mentors and home supervisors will be online, but for the 2027 cohort, two face-to-face events are scheduled: the first one will take place back-to-back with the AfricaLics PhD Academy tentatively scheduled for April 2027 in Kenya. The second face-to-face meeting is expected to take place in November 2027, i.e. during the students’ study stay at UJ. The focus of the face-to-face meetings will be on how to get the most out of joint supervision, including tools for joint PhD supervision and alignment of expectations and views between students, home supervisors, and mentors on the direction that each PhD student should take. Students will have the opportunity to present papers and/or chapters of their dissertations and get feedback both in paper presentation seminars and in smaller bilateral meetings with their home supervisors, and in trilateral meetings involving students, home supervisors, and mentors.

After the study visit to Johannesburg, AfricaLics VFP students will return to their home country and continue work on PhD dissertation to finalise and submit according to the rules and regulations at the university where the student is enrolled. The visiting fellows are, however, encouraged to remain engaged with the AfricaLics network after the fellowship period through activities in the AfricaLics alumni network, webinars, and other events and the RCS team at ACTS and many mentors on the programme keep in touch with the visiting fellows for years after the formal fellowship period has ended.

AfricaLics PhD visiting fellows are also encouraged to work on and submit papers to upcoming relevant conferences, such as the Globelics Conference 2027 and the AfricaLics Conference 2028. Participation in such events provides exposure to the wider AfricaLics/Globelics community, networking opportunities, and the possibility of finding collaborating partners for future research projects. AfricaLics PhD Visiting Fellows must apply for participation in such events on the same conditions as all others and should agree with their home supervisors and mentors on which events to prioritise, depending on where they are in their PhD process. AfricaLics may offer travel support to the extent that funding is available.

Activities of the alumni network are advertised here: https://africalics.org/alumni-events/. Online webinars are advertised on the AfricaLics website and SoMe.

Current and former participants in the AfricaLics VFP are listed on the AfricaLics website (see: https://africalics.org/vfp/. Examples of what previous visiting fellows have gained from participating in the AfricaLics VFP and other AfricaLics activities can be found in the AfricaLics flip-book and in the various videos available on the AfricaLics YouTube channel.

Student Requirements and Application Form

Applicants for the AfricaLics PhD visiting fellowship programme should:

• Be working actively on a subject relevant to innovation and development as defined above.
• Be enrolled as a PhD student at a university in Africa.
• Have preferably completed their first year of studies by December 2026
• Have a background (BSc, MSc etc.) in Economics, Sociology, Political Science, Science and Technology Policy, Geography, History or Development Studies. Applicants may also work within the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects or even manufacturing, but from a social science perspective.
• Possess adequate literacy in English (documentation may be requested).

Applicants fulfilling the criteria above and interested in the VFP, must submit a brief application of one page/500 words explaining their background, motivation for applying and expected outcomes of participation in the AfricaLics PhD visiting fellowship programme.

The following documents must be submitted with the application:

• Brief outline of current PhD project, including PhD training plans (max. 5 pages)
• Curriculum Vitae – CV (including PhD courses attended so far)
• Letter of support from the main PhD supervisor confirming that the PhD student will have completed her/his upgrade/probation by the end of December 2025 OR reasons why the student is deemed suitable for inclusion in the fellowship programme if this is not the case.
• Letter of support from the University Administration at the university where the PhD student is enrolled
• Copies of academic certificates (copies of Bachelor and Master Certificates as a minimum)
• One writing sample (article or chapter) from current PhD program

Applicants are NOT expected to submit a copy of their passport when applying for the PhD visiting fellowship programme.  Successful candidates will be asked to handle any visa issues that may be relevant  with support from the AfricaLics Secretariat and UJ. Collection of personal data will be kept to a minimum, and information received will be stored safely and will not be used for any other purposes.

Please use the application form through this link when you submit your application.

Applications with all relevant attachments should be submitted through the online form by 23.00 hrs East Africa Time on 2nd October 2026.

An information session on the VFP and the application process is tentatively planned for the 10^th September on Zoom. If you are interested in attending this information session, please register here.

Applications not fulfilling the requirements above will not be considered, so please forward any questions you may have to visitingphd@africalics.org and you will be assisted.

Interviews of shortlisted and potentially successful candidates will take place on 27^th November and on 30^th November 2026.

Successful candidates will be notified by mid-December 2026 or early January 2027, following which they will be required to sign a study agreement form confirming that they will participate in the fellowship programme.

The final notification date will be communicated on the AfricaLics website.

Visa

Successful PhD candidates are responsible for ensuring that their passport is valid for the time they will be staying in Johannesburg in South Africa, and for dealing with any issues related to the legality of their stay in South Africa (letters of invitation will be forwarded).  Details of how to apply for your visit visa in South Africa will be sent to successful candidates in due time.

Accommodation and workspace

The AfricaLics RCS team at ACTS and staff at UJ will help organise accommodation for students during the study visit in Johannesburg. The accommodation will be near the UJ-TRCTI offices at the University of Johannesburg, where the students will have their working space. Costs will be covered by the fellowship programme. While we endeavour to provide a single private bedroom for each selected student, this is not always possible (i.e. some students may be in shared bedrooms) and there may be communal living spaces (kitchens, living rooms and bathrooms).

Additional information on terms and conditions

1. Return flight costs from your nearest international airport (economy class) to Johannesburg and accommodation in Johannesburg will be covered by AfricaLics through the Sida-supported RCS project.
2. A travel insurance is issued together with the ticket and serves as health insurance during the fellowship period. The medical insurance provided under the travel insurance usually only covers minor ailments that occur during your stay. Successful candidates who have a medical condition, are advised to check if their own health insurance works in South Africa and, if not, ensure they upgrade their insurance in advance of their study visit.
3. Living costs during the study visit to UJ are normally covered through a stipend amounting to approximately $600 per month. This amount should cover all costs while in Johannesburg related to living expenses and travel around Johannesburg including to and from UJ campus.
4. Costs for participation in joint courses and mentorship fees will be covered by AfricaLics. A small amount of funds is also available for students to participate in a short-course that is deemed important for their PhD studies and not normally available in their home country.
5. The AfricaLics RCS project will also cover costs related to the two face-to-face meetings between students, home supervisors and mentors.
6. If AfricaLics agrees to fund the three-month study visit to Johannesburg, the scholarship will only cover costs related to the student’s visit. Any costs related to accompanying spouses, children, or others will not be covered.  The scholarship does not cover the costs of any additional travel in South Africa that the student may wish to undertake unless as part of selected and approved VFP activities.

Contact us

Questions regarding the AfricaLics Visiting PhD Fellowship Programme and the call should be forwarded to: visitingphd@africalics.org

Downloads

• Application Form

[1] The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is one of the largest contact universities in South Africa of the 26 public universities that make up the higher education system. UJ is a diverse, inclusive, transformational, and collegial institution, with a student population of over 50 000, of which more than 3000 are international students from 80 countries. More information can be found at https://www.uj.ac.za/faculties/cbe/SARChI-TRCTI

(2) African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) is a regional think tank based in Kenya, dedicated to policy research, innovation, and sustainable development in Africa. Established in 1988, ACTS works at the interface of science, technology, innovation, environment, and society to support evidence-based policymaking. ACTS is internationally recognized for its thought leadership, capacity-building initiatives, and impactful programmes implemented across multiple African countries. More information can be found at https://acts-net.org/

(3) AfricaLics is an African network focused on advancing research, capacity building, and policy dialogue on innovation, learning, and sustainable development. It brings together scholars, policymakers, and practitioners to generate knowledge on how innovation and competence building can drive inclusive growth in Africa. AfricaLics plays a central role in strengthening innovation ecosystems, enhancing research capabilities, and shaping policy debates across the continent. More information can be found at www.africalics.org.