NAPRECA PhD AND TECHNICIAN FELLOWSHIPS SUPPORTED BY COMSTECH AND ICCBS, 2023

The Natural Products Research Network for Eastern and Central Africa (NAPRECA) in partnership with COMSTECH and ICCBS is pleased to announce THREE competitive travel fellowships to PhD students in Natural Products research to ICCBS in Karachi Pakistan and TWO technician fellowships.

The fellowship is earmarked to help students to access equipment and technologies that can help them complete their PhD project activities. This contributes to fulfilling one of NAPRECA’s objective or vision to foster networking and collaboration, and to allow scientific creativity to flourish. The technician fellowships will enhance skills of technicians to maintain and repair equipment. These will act as trainers in their respective countries on return.

1. Before the submission of applications, applicants must ensure that the eligibility criteria are met and that all arrangements with the home institution have been confirmed.

• Eligibility and selection criteria

 PhD fellowships:

Candidates wishing to be considered for a Fellowship must ensure that they meet all

of the following criteria, namely that they:

(a) are a junior or middle-level researcher in the area of Chemistry or Biology of natural products;

(b) the applicant must provide a concept paper (max 5 pages) of the project to be addressed in the six months mentioning clearly the study area and the type of equipment needed during his/her visit.

(c) are a member of NAPRECA chapter of their country and involved in the activities of local chapter as evidenced by support letter from the chairperson of the node;

(d) possess a master’s degree;

(e) are currently pursuing their PhD degree in the area of Chemistry/Biology of Natural Products and in the advanced stage; evidenced by letter of admission, proof of registration (year of commencement), research progress highlights indicated in the project/concept paper 

(f) work in a recognized university, research institution, publicly funded laboratory, or recognised  university laboratory in their home country or in another State Party

(g) have been employed in their home institution for a minimum period of one

year at the time of the application.

Technician fellowships:

1. work in a recognized university, research institution, publicly funded laboratory, or recognised  University laboratory in their home country
2. Must possess a minimum of a diploma in the relevant technician field
3. Indicate the list of equipment needed to be trained on in the application

       3. Other factors that will be considered in the evaluation of applications include:

The need for an equitable gender and geographical distribution of supported Candidates in the twelve NAPRECA member countries. NAPRECA supports the closing of the gap of gender parity and therefore 50 % of the awardees will be females where possible.

• It is the responsibility of applicants to make all the necessary arrangements with their home institutions in respect of their employment contracts, to ensure that the home institutions agree with their participation in the Fellowship and to ensure that their positions are reserved during their absence.

• Application procedures

Signed Applications shall be received by the Secretariat from 1^st July 2023 to 1^st August 2023 and will be reviewed within two weeks; decisions on such applications will be made within four weeks. Submit your application by email to: jnamukobe@gmail.com and copy to thannington@yahoo.com.

• Selection procedure

A Review Committee will be constituted to select the successful applicants. Membership to this Committee will include NAPRECA Secretariat staff, members from COMSTECH and ICCBS.

When making its recommendations, the Review Committee will evaluate the candidates against the eligibility and selection criteria described above.

The decision of the Review Committee shall be final. The results will be announced in on the NAPRECA website and COMSTECH website and all applicants will receive a decision on their application successful or not.

• Funding

7.1 Subject to any specific decision taken by the Secretariat on a case-by-case basis, COMSTECH shall provide:

(a)  the Fellow with a round-trip airfare (economy) which will be paid directly by COMSTECH

(b) visa fees

7.2 ICCBS shall cover accommodation and stipend.

No additional funding will be provided to the Fellow. If some additional funding by any other organization(s) has been sought for the purpose of the same research visit, the support provided by the COMSTECGH and ICCBS will be reduced accordingly as deemed appropriate.

• Fellows shall be responsible for obtaining all necessary travel insurance, visas, including any transit visas that may be necessary for their travel to the location of the host institution.

• The fellowship granted under the terms of this Note is essentially for training/educational purposes, and is intended to cover the cost of lodging/accommodation, board, transport, and other basic expenditures. It is not a salary or honorarium. It is also not intended to cover any expenses incurred for the family members or dependents of the Fellows. The Secretariat will not provide any support for the visa applications of the Fellows’ family members. No costs, other than those specified in this Note, shall be charged against the funds provided by the Secretariat.

1. Payment for Fellowships

COMSTECH shall buy cost effective return airfare (economy) from the country as provided by the applicant. ICCBS will accommodate the successful applicants and provide the stipend to cover the meals.

1. Reporting

The Fellow shall submit to the Secretariat (jnamukobe@gmail.com and copy to thannington@yahoo.com) for evaluation, two progress reports, one in the middle of the fellowship (after three months) and another at the end of the fellowship. The report shall summarise the results achieved with reference to the research and training objectives. The reports shall be endorsed by the Fellowship/host supervisor, who may include his/her comments immediately after the expiry of the six months’ period of the fellowship. For avoidance of doubt, the final report should be submitted not more than thirty days after the last date of the fellowship. The reports and all publications must acknowledge NAPRECA, COMSTECH and ICCBS for the support rendered using the following phrase; “This work was supported NAPRECA, COMSTECH and ICCBS. The statements made and views expressed in this work are solely the responsibility of the authors”