Benefits:
The fellowship will cover travel and training expenses. STAARS fellows will be paired with mentors at Cornell University with whom they will jointly author a paper on a topic of mutual interest relating to structural transformation in Africa south of the Sahara. PIM will support the publication of resulting research findings in high quality journals and as working papers. In addition, PIM and Cornell will facilitate fellows’ participation in scientific and policy conferences.
Scope of Research and Geographic Focus
Prospective STAARS fellows are invited to develop proposals in the following thematic areas.
- Dynamics of agriculture input use, technological change, and productivity growth in Africa south
of the Sahara. - Rural factor market performance, labor exits and productivity in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Food security, nutrition and health linkages in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Poverty dynamics and resilience against shocks in sub-Saharan Africa.
STAARS fellows’ rigorous policy analysis should use existing data, such as the Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA), Demographic and Health Surveys or similar high-quality datasets from sub-Saharan Africa.
Eligibility
The call is open for early career African researchers, either
Ph.D. students in their final year or those who completed their Ph.D. in
2015 or later. Priority is given to researchers who are African
nationals based and working in – or soon returning to – Africa, with
priority given to proposals relating to the research themes indicated
above. Qualified female researchers are particularly encouraged to
apply. STAARS encourages applications from fresh Ph.D. graduates who can
benefit from a mentorship and additional training to become highly
competent researchers. Fellows are expected to complete the proposed
project by publishing findings as a working paper and submitting to a
peer-reviewed journal by December 15, 2020.
Researchers are expected to be familiar with existing data
sets and have a strong working knowledge of Stata, R or other
econometric software and an interest in econometric analysis of
high-quality data sets. Knowledge of Stata and/or R will be assessed at
the finalist stage.
Funding
The selected applicants will receive funds to cover travel and
participation in a three-week mentorship program at Cornell University.
The proposed research and capacity development are expected to
be undertaken as part of an ongoing effort by the scholar; STAARS will
not cover the scholar’s time allocated to this research. A written
permission from the candidate’s supervisor will be required. The program
cannot support costs for any new data collection.
Application Process
The STAARS fellowship application process is managed by Cornell University, in collaboration with PIM. Applicants are required to prepare a maximum 2500-word concept proposal, which motivates the selected research issues and objectives, outlines data sources, proposed methodology and contains a convincing plan for completing the project by December 15, 2020. All proposals shall be prepared in English. All proposals will be peer reviewed by experts from Cornell University and/or PIM.
Template for preparation of concept proposal
- Completed 2020 STAARS Fellowship Applicant Information Form.
- Concept Proposal:
- Title of the proposed research
- Targeted Country (Countries)
- Introduction and motivation that includes clear statement of research objectives and hypotheses.
- Description of data sources(s) and any prior experience working with the proposed data.
- Proposed Methodology
- If applicable, summarize any preliminary results.
- Proposed timeline for the research
- Bibliographic references (not included in the 2500 words)
- CV of the applicant (not included in the 2500 words)
- Photocopy of passport biodata page and, if applicable, any current US visa.
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the STAARS Fellowship Program 2020