Free analysis support and training places for postgraduate students at African public institutions.
A large number of African postgraduate students generate good data and then stall, because the analysis expertise their project needs is not available in their department and their grant has no line for consultancy.
The scholarship programme exists for exactly that situation. Awards cover analysis support, training places, or both. There is no fee and no obligation attached.
What an Award Covers
Awards are made against project need, not prestige.
Analysis Support
A named consultant works with you on your project analysis, to the same standard as paid work: written plan, reproducible code, publication-ready figures and a walkthrough call.
Training Place
A fully funded place on one of our quarterly five-day workshops in bioinformatics, biostatistics or data science, at the level appropriate to your experience.
Study Design Consultation
For students who have not yet collected data, a design consultation covering sampling strategy, sample size and analysis plan — the point at which help is worth most.
Mentorship
Ongoing contact with a consultant in your field for the duration of your project, for the questions that come up between formal sessions.
Publication Support
Help preparing the methods section, responding to reviewer comments on analysis, and preparing figures to journal specification.
Code and Skills Transfer
Everything is handed over with documented code so you can rerun and extend the analysis yourself — the point is that you learn it, not that we do it for you.
Eligibility and How to Apply
Who is eligible
- Registered postgraduate students (Masters, PhD or equivalent) at a public institution in an African country
- Early-career researchers within three years of their doctorate at an African public institution
- Projects in bioinformatics, biostatistics, data science, epidemiology or a related field
- Applicants whose institution or grant cannot fund equivalent analysis support
How to apply
Applications are reviewed quarterly. Send the following to [email protected] with the subject line Scholarship Application:
- A one-page description of your project and the research question
- A clear statement of the analysis support you need and why it is not available to you locally
- Confirmation of your registration status from your supervisor or department
- The stage your data is at, and any deadline you are working to
How applications are assessed
We look at whether the analysis need is real and well defined, whether an award would materially change the outcome of the project, and whether we have a consultant with the right expertise available. We do not assess on institutional reputation or on the prestige of the research area.
Applicants are notified within four weeks of the quarterly review. Unsuccessful applicants receive a short written explanation and are welcome to reapply.
Why we do this
The bottleneck in African research capacity is not talent and increasingly not data — it is analysis. Every student who finishes their project able to run their own analysis is a permanent addition to that capacity, which is worth more to us than the fee we did not charge.
