Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI) / Mastercard Foundation PhD Fellowship 2025 – PhD Fellowship on ‘The Non-Profit Sector’s Contribution To African Economies’ A Mastercard Foundation funded project

The Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI) at the Wits Business School (University of the Witwatersrand), with the support of the Mastercard Foundation invites applications for Doctoral Fellowship on the Non-Profit Sector and its Contribution to African Economies project.

The aim of the PhD fellowship is to provide opportunities for young African doctoral students registered in African universities to participate in research on non-profit organisations and their contributions to African economies. The specific focus of the research project is ‘The creation of dignified and fulfilling work for young Africans by the non-profit sector’.

Doctoral students will be working on topics related to non-profit organisations and their contributions to African economies, particularly those focusing on dignified and fulfilling employment for young Africans. Successful applicants will work closely with Regional Research Leads paired with senior researchers in undertaking their research. Fellows will be selected in line with categories of youth marginality that the project is paying special attention to – namely gender, disability, geography, class, age and various forms of marginality such as refugees, ex-prisoners, and internally displaced persons, just to mention a few.

Benefits

• Each fellow will receive a fully funded fellowship, providing a full scholarship of up to $30,000 per year.

Eligibility

• Only female applicants from and focusing on the following countries are to apply: Burkina Faso, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia.
• Be aged 35 years or below.
• Be currently enrolled as a full-time student in a relevant doctoral programme at an African university, focusing on themes and research aligned to the project.
• Have research interest in the non-profit sector’s contributions to dignified and fulfilling work for African youth.
• Demonstrate commitment to the programme and the ability to work effectively in a team.
• Be available to participate in the programme for its entire duration.
• In the first or second year of their PhD programme.
• Be nationals of any of the countries listed above and conduct research on any of them or some of them.

Subject Fields

Social and behavioural sciences, including Economics, Development Studies, International Development, Non-profit or Philanthropic studies, Statistics and Actuarial Sciences, Management, Public Policy, History, Human Geography, or any development-related field. The research should strictly focus on the project’s main objective; The Contributions of Non-profit Sectors to African Economies with specific focus on Dignified and Fulfilling Work for the Youth.

Application

Eligible candidates should prepare and submit the following as part of the application package:

• Current curriculum vitae (CV).
• A personal statement (maximum 500 words) outlining their research interest, motivation, and alignment with the advertised CAPSI Research programme.
• An outline of their proposed research project (maximum 2500 words) covering the following.
  • Background of study
  • Problem Statement
  • Research questions
  • Research objectives
  • Literature review and theoretical framework
  • Proposed methodology (covering research design, sampling and, data collection and ethical considerations)
• A letter of recommendation from supervisor/proposed supervisor.
• A copy of academic transcripts.
• Proof of age (e.g., passport, birth certificate, etc.)
• Proof of admission or registration in an African University

The application must be sent by email to: [email protected] (applicants from West and North Africa), [email protected] (applicants from East Africa), and eleanor.chipeta @wits.ac.za (applicants from Southern Africa) clearly marked “PHD FELLOWSHIP IN THE NON-PROFIT SECTOR’S CONTRIBUTION TO AFRICAN ECONOMIES, and copied to [email protected].

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

The deadline for applications is Monday, September 16th, 2024.

Successful applicants will be notified by Friday, September 27th, 2024.

For more information and to apply, please visit the CAPSI website (https://capsi.co.za).

Inquiries should be directed to [email protected] or any of the emails above.