Open Doors Fellowship Program 2026 for Women Researchers in Africa – YOA

Deadline: Ongoing

Applications are invited for the Open Doors Fellowship Program 2026. The Open Doors Fellowship Program for ladies researchers in Africa is a holistic program that targets ladies researchers in Africa to assist them purchase the mandatory arduous and delicate expertise to strengthen their placements inside their internet hosting establishments and, finally, keep away from dropping out earlier than their consolidation stage.

The ODFP targets submit-doctoral and mid-profession ladies researchers conducting agricultural analysis in African (inter)nationwide analysis centres. Their program goals to contribute to the consolidation of mid-profession researchers and keep away from them leaking from the scientific pipeline. Therefore, by its distinctive conceptualization and implementation, this system is tailor-made to our contributors’ coaching wants to supply a satisfying, nurturing and empowering studying expertise.

Program Details

The program is structured in two phases. In Phase 1 (1-4 months), fellows develop their analysis horizons and scientific community in Belgium by a totally-funded quick analysis stage of three months. This stage happens in a laboratory the place fellows can use tools not accessible in Africa and study new strategies and expertise related to quick-observe their analysis.

Yet, this system pursues to actively join the Belgian laboratories with the prevailing African analysis to generate lengthy-time period and mutual studying for enriching collaborations. To this finish, the continual North-South and South-South collaborations between the labs are fostered after this part by numerous tasks managed by IPBO.

While in Belgium, the fellows obtain programs on cross-cultural communication, public presentation expertise, and easy methods to submit aggressive mission proposals beneath the EU Horizon funding scheme, along with their Belgian counterparts.

In Phase 2, upon returning to Africa, fellows can tailor their coaching curriculum over16 months by accessing six programs from the VIB coaching on-line portfolio on delicate, arduous expertise and training programs throughout this era. Beyond these, the coaching bundle consists of Negotiation Skills, Project Management and Self-Leadership modules to assist beneficiaries navigate their careers extra confidently.

Benefits

• The program helps fellows’ scientific and public visibility as a result of if analysis outputs are usually not seen, the fellows aren’t both. To this finish, contributors obtain coaching on scientific communication and monetary incentives to attend congresses and open-entry publication charges.

Eligibility

• Applicants are submit-doc feminine students (minimal one yr after defending their Ph.D.) or in mid-profession positions who expertise challenges to progress in their profession path as a consequence of restricted entry to coaching, infrastructure, and worldwide networks. There aren’t any age limits. 
• Scholarship candidates needs to be nationwide and resident in one of many VLIR- UOS scholarship international locations (Benin,  Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe); or worker of a goal group in one in every of these international locations (candidates exceptionally can have a special nationality).
• Applicants’ analysis fields have to be plant breeding, agrobiotechnology, molecular biology and genetics, microbiology, chemical ecology, plant & soil well being, livestock or aquaculture. 
•  Applicants will need to have an energetic employment contract in a High Education establishment or an (inter)nationwide analysis middle in any of the international locations listed above for the period of the fellowship (20 months), the place they conduct analysis and train.
• Applicants are supervising MSc or PhD college students and supporting workers.

Application

Click here to apply

For extra info, go to Open Doors Fellowship.