MTN Academic Research Development and Innovation Challenge for Nigerian Postgraduate students 2019

Published: 26 Sep 2019

MTN has opened applications for the MTN Academic Research Development and Innovation Challenge 2019 which is to be awarded to postgraduate (Masters and Doctorate) students registered at an accredited Nigerian University or Research Institute.  When selected, the lucky scholars will have The MTN ARDIC's support system where they can translate their ideas into through seamless access to applicable tools, data, platform and hands-on mentoring, at their disposal.

The aim of the scholarship is for MTN to have produced at the end of the challenge top 6 well-motivated Masters/PhD researchers who want to translate their research ideas into high-impact innovations with enabling platforms, APIs, data, training, mentorship and experimental sandbox for six months following their selection to further develop the ideas towards commercialization.

MTN Foundation PhD Scholarship

Application Deadline	October 14, 2019
Country to study	Nigeria
Type	Ph.D
Sponsor	MTN Foundation
Gender	Men and Women

Benefits of MTN Foundation PhD Scholarship

The perks for the 6 winners:

1. MTN Support: MTN will provide N1,000,000 to the winners as well as enabling platforms, APIs, data, training, mentorship to further develop the ideas towards commercialization.
2. 6 Months Acceleration: The Investment Readiness program is a flexible, tech and data centered accelerator designed to support startups with global expertise and insights.

Requirements for MTN Foundation PhD Scholarship

Applicants must

1. Must be a registered current postgraduate (Masters or Doctorate) student of an accredited Nigerian university or research institute
2. Must have received confirmation from faculty and commenced research in one of the focus areas below
3. Must be interested in applying the findings from his/her research to solve practical socio-economic challenges in Nigeria
4. Must provide evidence of rightful ownership of the research topic/idea submitted for consideration
5. Must agree to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be drawn between relevant parties (MTN and other Implementing Partners) at relevant stages of the challenge
6. Must have commenced and been studying the chosen research area for at least 8 months. Students who have completed their research study but are yet to graduate from their universities are also eligible to apply

Selection Process

Qualifying Research Areas

 

1. Economic & Commercial Focus
   1. Econometric modeling and Advanced Scenario Analysis for Telco industry using macro-economic data
   2. Media Optimization and Attribution Modeling of media advertising spend
   3. Market footprint optimization for retail
   4. Geo-marketing and Community churn modeling
   5. Digital Media Optimization and real-time planning model
   6. Use of GIS/Satellite Data for market sizing, characterization and SME clustering/valuation
2. Innovation for High Social Impact
   1. Innovative Biometrics for multi-sectoral customer identification
   2. Rural Telephone coverage technology and strategies
   3. High scalable impact research in Block Chain for Telco and FinTech
   4. Use of GIS and customer migration data for Health/Epidemiological and Smart City planning
   5. AgriTech with emphasis on use of technology for agricultural yield optimization, storage and preservation
   6. MedTech with emphasis on malaria prevention tech-solutions, efficient drug distribution, maternal-infant & child mortality reduction
   7. Customer Complaints modeling using new media data and NLP

Application Deadline

October 14, 2019

How to Apply

Interested and qualified? Go to MTN Foundation on form.myjotform.com to apply