The GENES mobility grant is open to all students from any of the partner universities (Target Group 1) and to students from other African universities (Target Group 2).
Target Group 1:
African nationals/residents whom are registered, admitted or obtained a degree from one of the Higher Education Institutions involved in GENES project.
This category includes students enrolled (for M.Sc application) or graduated (for PhD application) from all partner universities as follows:
- Ebonyi State University; Nigeria
- University of Abomey-Calavi; Benin
- Jimma University; Ethiopia
- University of Yaunde 1
Target Group 2:
African nationals registered, admitted or obtained a degree from any Higher Education Institution (HEI) in Africa not involved in the GENES project
Admission
Admission regulations for Doctoral and MSc Studies are to be found from prospective HEIs website. This application is for GENES Project scholarships only. The Scholarship application form together with other required documents should be sent as a unique PDF attachment to: emails indicated below. You may download the MS Word version of the application form, and complete it before sending. Important also is the student proposal that should be sent together within the application as ONE SINGLE DOCUMENT, preferably PDF.
Other required documents are listed in the application form and include:
In order to meet the general selection requirements for MSc Mobility Grant (maximum 12 months’ scholarship mainly for research), the applicant must have completed the first two semesters of a Master of Science course in Agronomy, Biology or any related fields in his home country. Students with Genetics, Biotechnology, and plant breeding background are highly encouraged to apply. It is obligatory that the students have their first year MSc Academic transcripts.
For Academic / Administrative staff, applicants should hold a B.Sc, MSc or PhD degree in Genetics, Biotechnology, Plant breeding, Agronomy, Biology or any related fields. Person with Genetics, Biotechnology, and plant breeding background are highly encouraged to apply.
For MSc students, the Project offers maximum of twelve-months credits or degree seeking mobility. For academic staff, a maximum of two-months staff exchange mobility is available for partner universities only.
Eligibility for MSc Mobility Scholarship
Applicants for MSc scholarship must comply with the following criteria at the time of application:
a) Be a national and resident in any of the eligible countries covered by the Intra-Africa Mobility programme of the EACEA,
b) Be registered/admitted in:
i. one of the HEIs included in the GENES consortium (Target Group 1)
ii. a HEI not included in the GENES consortium but established in an eligible country (Target Group 2),
c) Have sufficient knowledge of the language of study of the courses in the host countries.
Note:
1) Mobility will begin in second year of the study (i.e. M2), implying that sponsorship from GENES will be for research work only.
2) Students can only benefit from one scholarship under the Intra-Africa or Intra-ACP academic mobility scheme (regardless of the type of mobility or the funding project). Therefore, students who have benefited from scholarship(s) under the previous intra-ACP Academic Mobility Scheme cannot receive scholarship under the Intra-Africa academic mobility.
Selection
The selection among the eligible candidates will be based on their capacity to benefit from the training. The criteria used to assess these prospects are:
- Quality of earlier writings by the candidate(s) and quality of other merits;
- Originality, feasibility and potential contribution of the planned research to the field of interest;
- Integration with a product-focused cultivar or breed development program that serves smallholder farmers;
- Practical and realistic time-line;
- Ability of plan to include a realistic and feasible molecular breeding techniques;
- Importance and relevance of the trait(s) and germplasm to the region;
- Enthusiasm of the applicant, and support of home institution, which must be established in Africa.;
- Possibilities for the Host and Home HEIs to offer adequate supervision with respect to the planned research;
- Gender considerations.
Academic and administrative staff mobilities
Staff employed by the higher education institutions of the consortium will be able to apply for short term mobility opportunities which could include benchmarking exercises, sabbatical research periods, guest lecturing, curriculum development, knowledge and resource sharing trips etc. on the basis that both institutions support the trip.
Eligibility
In order to be eligible, academic and administrative staff (hereafter referred as “staff”) must:
(a) Be a national and resident in any of the eligible countries covered by the project
(b) Work in or be associated with a Higher Education Institution within the Partnership.
In addition mobility assignments must be based on agreements between the members of the Partnership. The home and host Higher Education Institution and the individual staff must agree on the programme of lectures to be delivered by the visiting staff (for academic staff), on the research activities, on the type of training to be followed or on type of administrative cooperation to develop.
(c) Have sufficient knowledge of the language of the courses in the host countries.
Contact
Due to difference in the partners higher education system, specific academic arrangements will be performed to assure that scholars are admitted in the right program and can make benefit of the mobility programme. These arrangements will be fixed on a case-by-case basis between the host HEI and Coordinating Institution. For more information, please contact Dr Celestine Afiukwa afiukwa@yahoo.com, Director, Biotechnology R & D Centre, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria. Contacts of HEIs representative are available on http://www.genes-intra-africa.org/contact-us.php
