The CEGA Non-Resident Fellowship seeks to equip early career African social scientists with the skills needed to carry out rigorous evaluations of economic development programs. Selected researchers will have a chance to remotely audit courses at Berkeley or other universities, develop skills in impact evaluation, and have access to a personalized mentorship program to develop their research ideas. Each fellow will be paired with a faculty mentor affiliated with the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), a research center based at UC Berkeley. A list of CEGA faculty affiliates is available online here. CEGA staff and PhD students will provide additional mentorship during the fellowship.
CEGA Non-Resident Fellows will be engaged remotely for 12 weeks, at about 15-20 hours per week. Fellows will receive a stipend to support their internet data costs and their time spent on the fellowship. CEGA Non-Resident Fellows will be considered a member of the East Africa Social Science Translation Collaborative (EASST) network. They will also be invited to join the Network of Impact Evaluation Researchers in Africa (NIERA), an association of African scholars seeking to advance decision-focused impact evaluation of development programs through capacity building, evidence generation and policy outreach.
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The CEGA Non-Resident Fellowship complements CEGA’s in-person Visiting Fellowships under CEGA’s EASST Collaborative and Development Impact West Africa (DIWA), and non-resident fellows will benefit from engaging with EASST and DIWA in-person fellows throughout the 12 weeks and beyond. The CEGA Non-Resident Fellowship may serve as either a precursor or alternative to the EASST and DIWA in-person fellowships.
Benefits
- Elected researchers will have a chance to remotely audit courses at Berkeley or other universities.
- Develop skills in impact evaluation, and have access to a personalized mentorship program to develop their research ideas.
- Each non-residentfellow will be paired with afaculty mentoraffiliated with the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), a research centerbased at UC Berkeley.
- CEGA staff and PhD students will provide additional mentorship during the fellowship.
- Fellows will receive a stipend to support their internet data costs and their time spent on the fellowship.
- Through these networks fellows will have access to annual research grant competitions, online and in-person convenings, training workshops, and more.
- Non-resident fellows will benefit from engaging with EASST and DIWAin-personfellows throughout the 12 weeks and beyond.
Eligibilities
Applicants to the non-resident fellowship program must:
- Have completed a Master’s degree within the last 10 years in economics, statistics, epidemiology/public health, or another social science discipline; or be pursuing a PhD; or have completed PhD in last 10 years.
- Have a current affiliation with a research institution, university or other research organization in Africa, preferably one that supports policy-relevant, quantitative social science research.
- You have to demonstrate strong analytic skills, with past coursework in economics or statistics.
- Have participated in or have familiarity with impact evaluation research(either randomized or quasi-experimental studies),policy analysis, and micro-level field data collection.
- Demonstrate a commitment to and experience with engaging policy-makers and implementing bodies and disseminating research findings.
- Be computer literate, fluent in English,and a strong public speaker.
- Demonstrate a commitment to institutionalizing rigorous evidence within their institution.
- Demonstrate a commitment to building the capacity of African research institutions/universities.
- Submit a clear and innovative research proposal to evaluate a specific public policy or program in Africa, using a randomized controlled trial or quasi-experimental methodologies.
Application Process
- Please ensure that all supporting documentation is submitted in English.
- Please describe your personal motivations for applying to the CEGA Non-Resident Fellowship–of all fellowships available to you, why are you particularly interested in this one? What do you hope to accomplish during the 12weeks and beyond? Please also comment on your ability to commit to 15-20 hours a week for the 12-week fellowship and how this will fit into your current commitments.
- You have to provide your Curriculum Vitae/Resume .
- Not to exceed 2 pages. Refer to Appendix A “Instructions for Research Proposal” and Appendix B “Research Proposal Example” below. During the fellowship, you should work on the proposal you have submitted, unless you decide to change it (with agreement from CEGA staff and your mentor).
- Please choose a referee who can comment on your research capacity and analytical skills, as well as your communication and networking skills.OPTIONAL: You may attach one working paper or publication.
- Please choose a referee who can comment on your research capacity and analytical skills, as well as your communication and networking skills.Please send the provided recommendation template to your referee and have them return the completed letter to you. Applicants must include this letter of recommendation in their final submission (through the online portal). Note that will not accept recommendation letters via email, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
- Applicants must submit a research proposal of no more than 2 pages along with their fellowship application. Your research proposal should lay the groundwork for a full research project, to be further developed over the course of your fellowship.The proposed project should be a quantitative (or mixed-methods) impact evaluation in an African country related to economic development, infectious disease, agriculture, financial inclusion, or a related topic. While the research questions should be very clear, demonstrating your ability to think through a rigorous research design, the 2-page proposal need not be fully fleshed out with details about your partner(s), specific outcome measures, and field research plan.
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Application Deadline: June 21, 2021
Application ClosedOfficial link
