EPFL-UM6P Africa initiative 100 PhDs for Africa programme 2021 For Young African Graduate

Published: 07 Mar 2021

UM6P and EPFLhave launched the Excellence in Africa initiative (EXAF) to support the rise of the next generation of researchers in Africa. This ground-breaking initiative aims to enhance their research skills through collaboration with EPFL professors. It is based on the premise that it will contribute to building their career and enable them to heighten their economic and societal impact in Africa.

The programme ‘100 PhDs for Africa’ is one of three pillars of the EXAF initiative. It is designed to fund science and engineering graduates intending to complete a PhD at an African higher education institution.

The PhD candidates benefiting from this programme will be jointly supervised by a professor of an African institution and by an EPFL professor. They will conduct their doctoral studies and their thesis research at their home institution, and they will spend short periods of time at EPFL and at UM6P (summer and spring schools, workshops, conferences). Their degree will be awarded by their institution in Africa.

EPFL-UM6P Africa initiative PhD Scholarship

Application Deadline	April 20, 2021
Country to study	Switzerland
School to study	École Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
Type	Ph.D
Sponsor	École Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)

Benefits of EPFL-UM6P Africa initiative PhD Scholarship

The programme awards funding of a maximum of 80’000 Swiss francs in total for a period of at most 54 months. Eligible costs include and are limited to:

1. A living allowance
2. Tuition costs
3. Consumables and direct costs for the use of infrastructure at the home institution or at EPFL
4. Open science costs: costs for data storage and for granting access to data (open research data) and open access publication costs

Costs related to joint supervision:

• Travel costs for the PhD fellow to and from EPFL (economy class airfares, public ground transportation)
• A supplementary living allowance for stay(s) at EPFL
• Travel costs to and from the African home institution and EPFL for the supervisor and co-supervisor of the PhD fellow (economy class airfares, public ground transportation, lodging, and meals)
• Other costs incurred by the joint supervision (e.g., joint participation in a conference, other costs related to stays at EPFL)

Requirements for EPFL-UM6P Africa initiative PhD Scholarship

1. To be a national of an African country
2. To hold a Master’s degree awarded after the 1st of January 2018 or to be enrolled in the final year of the master study 
3. To have an outstanding academic track record
4. To be enrolled in an African academic institution when the fellowship will start, and to reside in an African country for the duration of the PhD
5. To have the endorsement of a professor of an African institution willing to supervise the doctoral thesis for its full duration

Selection Process

The deadline for applications is the 20th of April 2021. Pre-selected applicants should be interviewed by their potential EPFL co-supervisor between the 22nd of June 2021 and the 6th of August 2021. Results are expected by September 2021.

Application Deadline

April 20, 2021

How to Apply

Interested and qualified? Go to École Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) on epflresearchfunds.gomovein.com to apply