Megatrends Afrika Fellowship 2026 for African Researchers – YOA

Deadline: March 25, 2026

Applications are open for the Megatrends Afrika Fellowship 2026. The Megatrends Afrika mission is awarding three fellowships to African researchers. Megatrends Afrika is a cooperation between the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Kiel Institute). The mission conducts coverage-related interdisciplinary analysis on Africa and gives coverage recommendation to determination-makers.

Fellowships will likely be granted for a interval of three months in fall 2026, full-time. Fellows will conduct a analysis mission independently or, if appropriate, in collaboration with mission crew members or different IDOS, Kiel Institute and SWP colleagues – and contribute one paper to the mission’s publication sequence. Fellows are anticipated to take part in mission conferences, occasions and different related actions of their host establishment throughout their keep.

Research Topics

They are focused on proposals for a Megatrends Policy Brief that tackles a problem of relevance to one of many following analysis themes:

• Peace and Security
• Future of Democracy
• Economic Prospects
• Africa’s Role within the New World Order
• Science Diplomacy and Science Cooperation

Also of curiosity could be analysis proposals on new applied sciences (synthetic intelligence, area programmes) in African international locations, worldwide cooperation on Africa’s vitality transition and significant uncooked supplies, and the affect of digitalisation or urbanisation on political regimes in Africa. 

Benefits

• For the period of the fellowship, fellows will reside within the metropolis of their host establishment, i.e., in Berlin (SWP), Bonn (IDOS) or Kiel (Kiel Institute). Fellows will obtain a month-to-month grant of € 2,800, an economic system-class return journey between their place of residence and Germany in addition to some monetary assist for public transport, cell phone credit score and different ancillary prices in Germany. Fellows who require a visa to enter Germany will likely be supplied with a letter of assist and help within the application course of.

Eligibility

• Applicant ought to have a accomplished PhD in political science, economics, social sciences, geography, worldwide relations, or related space research;
• Originating from an African nation
• Strong analysis and publication monitor file in areas of relevance to the Megatrends Afrika mission
• Experience in scientific coverage recommendation is a bonus

Selection Process

Fellows are chosen and positioned in step with the analysis agendas of the host institutes. Shortlisted candidates will likely be invited for a web-based interview. In selecting candidates, they are going to put explicit emphasis on the next standards:

• Academic {and professional} benefit based mostly on the applicant’s publications and work expertise;
• Academic and coverage relevance of the mission;
• Feasibility of the mission throughout the interval of the fellowship;
• Candidates’ skill to speak successfully and make complicated concepts accessible to a broad viewers.

Application

Applications should comprise a one-web page letter of motivation, an educational CV together with a listing of educational publications, a pattern of two current publications, copies of related tutorial transcripts and/or diplomas (no translations wanted), a written idea observe containing the outline of the applicant’s mission. The idea observe mustn’t exceed 2,000 phrases and embody a dialogue of the mission/analysis subject, its tutorial and coverage relevance, feasibility and theoretical and methodological grounding. The submitted mission ought to be based mostly on the applicant’s current and ongoing analysis agenda. Its scope and ambition must be acceptable for a Megatrends Policy Brief that will likely be finalized by the top of the fellowship.

Send your application by electronic mail to [email protected]. Applications should be submitted as a single PDF doc. Formats apart from PDF (Word, zip) can’t be accepted. The deadline for the fellowship purposes is 25 March 2026, 11:59 p.m. CET. Incomplete and/or late purposes is not going to be thought of.

For extra data, go to Megatrends Afrika Fellowship.