Accepting applications for The Open Doors Fellowship Program 2024!
The Open Doors Fellowship Program for women researchers in Africa is a holistic program that targets women researchers in Africa to help them acquire the necessary hard and soft skills to strengthen their placements within their hosting institutions and,
ultimately, avoid dropping out before their consolidation stage.
The ODFP is intended for female post-doctoral and mid-career researchers who work in African international research institutions and do agricultural research. The goal of our programme is to prevent mid-career researchers from leaving the scientific pipeline and to help them consolidate. As a result, the programme is specifically designed to meet the training needs of our participants, offering a rewarding, supportive, and empowering learning environment through its innovative conception and execution.
The course is divided into two sections. Through a fully-funded, three-month short research stage, fellows broaden their research horizons and strengthen their scientific network in Belgium during Phase 1 (1-4 months). This phase takes place in a lab where fellows can use equipment that isn’t available in Africa and pick up new skills and procedures that will help them advance their study more quickly.
However, the goal of our programme is to proactively establish connections between Belgian laboratories and ongoing African research in order to foster mutual learning and long-term, fruitful partnerships. In order to do this, several projects overseen by IPBO are used to continue North-South and South-South interactions amongst the labs beyond this stage.
Along with their Belgian counterparts, the fellows take courses in public speaking, cross-cultural communication, and how to submit competitive project proposals under the EU Horizon financing initiative while they are in Belgium.
Phase 2: After returning to Africa, our fellows can customise their training programme over a 16-month period by selecting six courses from the VIB training online portfolio. These courses cover coaching, hard skills, and soft skills. In addition, the training programme contains modules on self-leadership, project management, and negotiation skills to enable our beneficiaries advance their careers with greater assurance.
Location:
Belgium, Online, AfricaBenefits
- The program supports fellows’ scientific and public visibility because if research outputs are not visible, the fellows aren’t either.
- To this end, participants receive training on scientific communication and financial incentives to attend congresses and open-access publication fees.
Eligibilities
Applicants have to be women researchers fulfilling all the following criteria:
- Applicants are post-doc female scholars (minimum one year after defending their PhD) or in mid-career positions who experience challenges to progress in their career path due to limited access to training, infrastructure and international networks. There are no age limits.
- Scholarship candidates should be national and resident in one of the VLIR- UOS scholarship countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania or Uganda); or employee of a target organization in one of these countries (candidates exceptionally can have a different nationality). This requirement is not applicable for the Slot Water and Oxidative Stress Resistance (Slot Identification Number: ODF_06).
- Applicants’ research fields must be plant breeding, agrobiotechnology, molecular biology and genetics, microbiology, chemical ecology, plant & soil health, livestock or aquaculture.
- Applicants must have an active employment contract in a High Education institution or an (inter)national research centre in any of the countries listed above for the duration of the fellowship (20 months), where they conduct research and teach.
- Applicants are supervising MSc or PhD students and supporting staff.
Application Process
- Visit the Apply link by clicking on the “APPLY NOW” button.
- Choose your preferred from ” MODALITY A: Application form & Modality B: Application form”
- Create your account or log into your account if you have an account already.
Documents to fulfil the application process
- A duly filled application.
- A motivation letter from the candidate.
- A maximum 3-page CV. Please note that a CV with more than three pages will not be reviewed.
- Soft copies of the academic transcripts of the PhD and the diploma.
- A list of publications, including papers, book chapters, technical reviews in indexed journals and patents. Only articles in the Web of Science: Master Journal List will be considered valid publications.
- A signed letter from the applicant’s direct supervisor to indicate how she/he intends to support the fellow in completing her training program
- An official signed letter from the Human Resources Office of the applicant’s institution to prove that the applicant has a valid contract in SSA for the duration of the fellowship. The letter also should inform on what support the fellow will receive during the training period. An HR focal point should commit to participating in the four webinars related to gender-equitable practices in the workplace during the 20 months of the fellowship.
- A signed letter from the research centre in Belgium supporting the applicant’s short research stay (only for Modality B applications).
If your research activity and profile match the requirements of a receiving institute listed on the IPBO website, you can apply to the Open Doors Fellowship Program with modality A.
Step 1 – Find a matching Flemish lab by consulting the list you can find under the Open Slots menu.
Step 2 – Fill in the online application form. At this stage, the ODFP applicants should demonstrate how the research stay in the Belgian lab will impact their line of research in Africa, clearly define the objectives of the short research stay in Belgium, and highlight synergies that will arise from this collaboration. A tentative work plan for the proposed research will be required.
Step 3.- The first round of selection will take place by the end of January. Candidates who fulfill the criteria and demonstrate the alignment and complementarity of the intended work will be invited for an online interview, regardless of the chosen modality (A or B).
Step 4.- Online interviews will take place in February. The selection panel will comprise the VIB-IPBO coordinators, the ODFP advisory board, and the representatives of the receiving laboratories in Belgium (one member).
Step 5.- Final selection of the awardees will occur by the 1st week of March. The VIB-IPBO will lead the process of travel arrangements and visas.
Step 6.- The ODFP awardees will join their receiving institutions in Belgium from the 1st of May for 8 weeks (minimum) up to 12 weeks (maximum) under the ODFP sponsorship.
Modality B allows you to create your application with a Belgian research institute of your choice.
To apply for the Open Door Fellowship Program,
Step 1.- The receiving laboratory in Belgium shall:
- Present the group’s research line(s) and activities, including a list of commonly used technologies (i.e. bioinformatics, genetic engineering, chromatography, sequencing, metabolomics, metagenomics).
- Summarise (max. 400 words) the research project(s) that an ODFP fellow could contribute with her/their research.
Step 2.- Apply for the Open Door Fellowship Program before the deadline by illustrating how the stay in the Belgian laboratory will impact your line of research in Africa, clearly defining the objectives of the short research stay in Belgium, and highlighting synergies that will arise from the collaboration. A tentative work plan for the proposed research will be required.
Step 3.- The first round of selection will take place by the end of January. Candidates that fulfill the criteria and demonstrate the alignment and complementarity of the intended work will be invited for an online interview, regardless of the chosen modality (A or B).
Step 4.- Online interviews will take place in February. Both the fellow applicant and the Belgian laboratory host will be invited. The selection panel will comprise the VIB-IPBO coordinators, the ODFP advisory board, and the representatives of the receiving laboratories in Belgium (one member).
Step 5.- Final selection of the awardees will occur by the 1st week of March. The VIB-IPBO will lead the process of travel arrangements and visas.
Step 6.- The ODFP awardees will join their receiving institutions in Belgium from the 1st of May for 8 weeks (minimum) up to 12 weeks (maximum) under the ODFP sponsorship.
Application Deadline: January 31, 2024
Application ClosedOfficial link
