Fellowship for HIV/AIDS and Public Health Policy Research in Africa

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Published on: Mar 09, 2007

Note: Fellowships for 2006-2007 have been awarded

The Social Science Research Council is pleased to announce the 2006-2007 Fellowship for HIV/AIDS and Public Health Policy Research in Africa. The program is open to African researchers, policy analysts, program planners and practitioners to support research on health and social policy in Eastern and Southern Africa relating to (1) political economy of care-giving and HIV/AIDS with particular emphasis on gender analysis; or (2) sexual violence and HIV/AIDS. Two senior fellowships of up to $25,000 and six associate fellowships of up to $10,000 will be awarded. Generous support for this program has been made available by the Open Society Institute’s Network Public Health Program based in New York.

Goals

Increase knowledge and understanding about the implications of HIV/AIDS in Eastern and Southern Africa as it relates to care-giving and sexual violence.
Improve public health policy responses to the pandemic and increase understanding about the interaction between local and global health systems.
Foster collaboration among African institutions, researchers, policy analysts, program planners and practitioners both within and outside of the continent.

Fellowships will be awarded for proposals addressing one of the two following areas:

HIV and Care-giving
Research proposals should address health policy challenges as they relate to any or several aspects of: (a) various public health and development interventions, and whether and how such interventions are affecting costs and burdens of care-giving for HIV/AIDS; (b) social mobilization efforts around care-giving at various levels—local, national and/or global.

Research on Sexual Violence
Research proposals should address health policy challenges as they relate to any or several aspects of: (a) new ways of measuring and conceptualizing the connection between sexual violence and HIV/AIDS across a range of settings, including in the context of fragile states, armed conflict and post-conflict settings, and other forms of public or domestic violence; (b) policy implications at a national level of reducing vulnerability of individuals to sexual violence; (c) implications of HIV/AIDS and sexual violence for policy and programme interventions in public health, reproductive health, security and HIV/AIDS.

Eligibility

Fellowships will be awarded to African researchers (master’s degree and above) and mid-career policy analysts, program planners and practitioners with at least eight years of field experience. Preference will be given to applicants based in Eastern and Southern Africa. Applications will be reviewed on the basis of their academic quality and rigor; policy relevance; feasibility; potential contribution to the field; and the applicant’s professional and research background and achievements.

Preference will be given to applications in which:

the proposed research identifies opportunities for collaboration and/or association with relevant non-governmental, policy and research partners;
the proposed work increases understanding about the interaction between local and global health systems;
the proposed research demonstrates links between policy and practice and can contribute to a stronger evidence base for public health policies and programs in the field of HIV/AIDS.

Preference will be given to academic researchers who identify collaborations with policy and NGO partners. Similarly, preference will be given to policy analysts, program planners and practitioners who identify relevant academic and research partners.

Proposals will only be accepted in English.

Award Requirements

Fellowships will provide support for research carried out within a nine month period, commencing September 2006. Funds may be used to support research and related travel costs. In addition, full expenses will be provided for fellows to participate in a fellows’ workshop which will facilitate network building and provide guidance in developing methodologies and dissemination strategies.

Senior Fellows
The two senior fellowships, of up to $25,000, will be awarded to faculty, senior researchers, senior policy analysts, program planners and practitioners or recent Ph.D. recipients based in eastern and southern Africa. Senior fellows will be permitted to allocate up to ten percent of their research budget to a host institution. If no such institutional support is necessary, this allocation can be used to support activities that foster collaboration, such as meetings, workshops and participation in national and regional research network activities.

Associate Fellows
The six associate fellowships, of up to $10,000, will be awarded to mid-junior level professionals, policy analysts, program planners and practitioners, activists, scholars and graduate students. Associate fellows are requested to identify a host institution and/or mentor who will provide on-going supervision throughout the research process. Academic researchers should identify a policy organization or an NGO as a host, and policy analysts and practitioners should identify a research or academic institution as a host, in order to encourage policy to research linkages. The host institution will receive an amount equal to twenty percent of the fellowship award, which is intended to contribute toward indirect and direct costs associated with mentoring and hosting (e.g., space, communications, supervision, etc.).

Applications

Applications should be submitted electronically to hivaids@ssrc.org and should include:

Completed application form
Curriculum Vitae
A research proposal (associate fellows–maximum five pages/1,250 words, including bibliography and appendices; senior fellows–maximum ten pages/2,500 words, including bibliography and appendices). A problem statement, methodology, time frame, project summary, relevant partners, and expected contributions to health, gender, and HIV policy development must also be included.
Dissemination plan identifying potential journals, conferences, and publications and research and policy opportunities to contribute findings.
One page budget summary itemizing salary (if relevant), travel, administrative and communications expenses, networking, collaboration and dissemination expenses; budgets must also indicate additional sources of support already secured or being identified for these and any other related activities (the fellowship may be used to supplement other funding, for which a full budget is required).
Three academic and/or professional references.

The deadline for applications is 12:00 noon on July 15, 2006 (GMT). Awards will be announced by mid-August. Supported activities can begin on September 15, 2006, and continue until June 15, 2007.

If you have questions about the Fellowship for HIV/AIDS and Public Health Policy Research in Africa, please contact hivaids@ssrc.org.