2023 Funded EPFL/UM6P Excellence in Africa 100 PhDs for African graduates. (Funded)

The UM6P/EPFL EXAF 100 PhDs for Africa programme is one of the three pillars of the Excellence in Africa initiative. It is designed to fund science and engineering graduates intending to complete a PhD at an African higher education institution.

PhD candidates benefiting from a UM6P/EPFL EXAF 100 PhDs for Africa fellowship will be jointly supervised by a professor employed by their African home institution and by an EPFL professor. They may spend short time periods at the EPFL in the laboratory of their EPFL co-supervisor, but will chiefly conduct their doctoral studies and their thesis research in Africa. Their degree will be solely awarded by their home institution.

Eligibility criteria

• To be a national of an African country
• 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
• To hold a Master’s degree awarded after the 1^st of January 2020 or to be enrolled in the final year of the master study
• To have an outstanding academic track record
• To have the endorsement of a professor of an African institution willing to supervise the doctoral thesis for its full duration

Research costs

• Consumables and direct costs for the use of infrastructure at the home institution or at EPFL
• Open science costs: costs for data storage and for granting access to data (open research data) and open access publication costs

Funding

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:Living allowance

• A living allowance for the PhD fellow, which must be in line with the standard documented practices of the home institution

Tuition fees

• Tuition costs may be included in the budget if there is written confirmation from the home institution that tuition fees apply for all PhD candidates.

Colloquia

• Conference, summer school and workshop costs for the PhD fellow, namely travel (economy class airfares, public ground transportation), lodging, visa, vaccinations, meals, and (if applicable) conference registration fees
• During the fellowship, the PhD fellow must participate in two summer schools organised by UM6P at Ben Guerir Campus in Morocco. Travel costs for these summer schools will also have to be included.

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)

Method of Application

Applicants must submit their application with all required documents via the on-line submission platform.

Please read carefully the application guidelines.

Submission Deadline

Interested applicants must apply on the online submission platform by 18 April 2023 (17:00 UTC +2)

Selection Process

Applicants will be pre-selected by June 2023.

Interviews of pre-selected applicants by EPFL professors will be conducted in summer 2023.

Results are expected by October 2023.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage

Application Deadline:  18 April 2023 (17:00 UTC +2)