Deadline: 11 February 2024

Registration is open for the Research Grant from the Collaborative Working Group of the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) 2024 The African Peacebuilding Network (APN) of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) invites applications from senior African academics and researchers based in universities, training institutions and policy organizations in Africa to set up and lead collaborative research projects aimed at informing policies and practices on conflict and peacebuilding on the continent.

The Collaborative Working Group Research Grant is a key initiative and complement to the field and network components of the APN program. This grant addresses the need for deep collaboration and engagement of researchers and professionals in the challenges of peacebuilding in Africa. It also seeks to link research to policy, promote mentoring of junior academics by senior colleagues, foster networks between academics and professionals based in at least three African countries, and increase the likelihood of impact on policy and action through the knowledge production process.

Brotherhood

• A research grant from the APN Collaborative Working Group will be supported by a maximum award of US$$ 60,000 for a period of eighteen months. Working group members are expected to collaborate and carry out the proposed research project jointly and will therefore need to meet several times during the project period.
• The funding should be used to support new field research, training activities, a review of relevant literature, and the production and dissemination of a range of outputs, from policy summaries and reports to best practice models, as well as academic publications in print and electronic formats. The working group is expected to produce a book-sized manuscript by the end of the project period.

Eligibility

• Candidates must be academics or professionals based in Africa, and the principal investigator must be a full professor based at an African university (and hold a doctorate).
• The competition will be open to joint teams of researchers and professionals (of six members) made up of Africans based in or affiliated with universities; regional organizations; government agencies; or non-governmental, media or civil society organizations located in at least three countries on the continent.
• Although the principal investigator must be a professor with a doctorate, other members of the research group may be early- and mid-career academics, or professionals, who are expected to hold at least a master's degree with two or more years of professional experience.
• Teams are expected to reflect diversity as much as possible and include individuals from diverse professional, institutional, national, regional, disciplinary, gender, and generational backgrounds and experiences. The project should also leverage strong mentoring relationships between senior and junior team members, while encouraging academic and professional participation, as well as engagement with universities and regional professional/political institutions.
• Team members, individually or collectively, are also strongly encouraged to contribute to the APN publication series, the Kujenga Amani digital forum, and social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter).

Application

The principal investigator of the university-based collaborative research working group, who must also be a full professor with a strong background in research on peace, security and development studies in Africa, must submit an application on behalf of the group through the SSRC Open Water Application Portal.  . The necessary application materials include the following:

• Completed application form
• CV of the principal investigator
• Research Proposal and Bibliography
• Proposed research timeline
• Proposed research budget
• List of all team members, including their names, affiliations, professional experience, and highest levels of education achieved.
• Two letters of reference
• Language assessment(s) (if required)

All applications must be uploaded through the online portal and submitted in English, with the exception of letters of reference, which must be accompanied by an English translation if they are not originally written in English.

For more information, visit APN Scholarship .