As part of its innovations, CARTA offers a collaborative doctoral training program in public and population health. This program was developed in response to the great challenges faced by Africa’s institutions of higher education in training and retaining the next generation of academics in the region. Specifically, CARTA aims to support PhD candidates who will become future research leaders within and beyond their institutions.

In 2026, CARTA will offer 22 awards to successful applicants. The multi-disciplinary CARTA PhD fellowship is open to staff members of CARTA African partner institutions, in any discipline, who are interested in conducting their PhD research on topics relevant to the broad fields of public and population health.

Important: Students and scholars who are not staff members (legally) of one of our partner institutions should refrain from applying. Specifically, registered students, volunteer lecturers, and temporary staff who are not covered by staff development policies are not eligible to participate in this call.

Eligible African Institutions

Applicants from the institutions listed below are eligible to apply:

• African Population and Health Research Center, Kenya
• Agincourt Health and Population Unit, South Africa
• Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania
• Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Malawi and Associates (through Kamuzu)
• Makerere University, Uganda
• Moi University, Kenya
• Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria
• University of Ibadan, Nigeria
• University of Nairobi, Kenya
• University of Rwanda, Rwanda
• University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Eligibility

Applicants for this fellowship must meet the following criteria:

• Hold a Master’s degree in a relevant field.
• Applicants for this program MUST be bona fide teaching or research staff at one of the participating African institutions. Respective institutions would need to:
  • Commit to continue paying fellows’ salaries (or equivalent) as faculty members.
  • Provide a supportive work environment that allows fellows the flexibility to fully participate in CARTA-organized activities and to focus on their PhD studies.
  • Commit to waiving the fellows’ fees when they register for their PhD at their institution of employment. Fellows are encouraged to seek supplemental funding to cover additional costs of their doctoral program.
• Applicants should be committed to contributing towards strengthening capacity at their institutions.
• Applicants’ PhD research proposals must be related to public and population health.
• Fellowships are only open to individuals who have not yet registered for a PhD or are in the very early stages (first year) of the PhD program and have yet to define their research proposal. Fellows whose research proposal is already approved, seeking support to complete a PhD or secure an additional PhD, are NOT eligible to apply.
• Prior admission into a PhD program is not required for application, but awards are contingent on such admission being obtained at one of the participating African universities within the first 12 months of the fellowship.
• Applicants must commit to participation in the residential Joint Advanced Seminars (JAS) and engage in inter-seminar activities designed to keep fellows actively engaged and in continual communication with peers and mentors.
• Men must be under the age of 40 years to be eligible, and women under the age of 45 years.

Fellowship Support

The fellowship will offer the following forms of support:

1. A series of structured training programs to capacitate the fellows in navigating their doctoral journey.
2. A laptop.
3. A modest stipend for 28 months only.
4. Research funds (a maximum of $10,500 will be allocated depending on available budget) to support the fellows in implementing their proposed research project and engaging the relevant stakeholders and community.

Application Procedure

1. Contact the CARTA focal person at your institution (see details below for CARTA focal persons) to discuss your interest and obtain application materials.
2. At this point, applicants are expected to submit their application forms and reference letters by August 20, 2025, at 23:59 hours EAT, via the REDCap system. You can access the application here.Note: Applicants should focus on obtaining the required documents and securing institutional support; research proposals may be further revised and refined during the full application.
3. CARTA partner institutions will nominate candidates who will be invited for the full application process.
4. Only those who are nominated by their institutions will be invited to submit a full application which must be received by September 21, 2025, through the application system (only shared with invited candidates).