TWAS-NRF Doctoral Fellowships are tenable at research institutions in South Africa for a maximum period of three years. They are awarded to scientists from developing countries (other than South Africa) to enable them to pursue PhD researches in natural sciences.
The programme is run by the South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) and Department of Science and Technology (DST) in partnership with TWAS to advance science in developing countries through two doctoral fellowships: the NRF-TWAS Doctoral Fellowships and the NRF-TWAS African Renaissance Doctoral Fellowships.
Programme Details
- Host institution: Research institutions in South Africa.
- Duration: Up to 3 years.
- Number of Awards: Not specified.
- Field of study: Agricultural Sciences, Structural, Cell and Molecular Biology, Biological Systems and Organisms, Medical and Health Sciences incl. Neurosciences, Chemical Sciences, Engineering Sciences, Astronomy, Space and Earth sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physics.
- Target groupe: Open to nationals of the following countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Rep., Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Dem. Rep., Congo, Rep., Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Rep., Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Eswatini, Kingdom of, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Equatorial, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Isl. Rep., Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, DPR, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Macao, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, Federated States of, Moldova, Republic of, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Republic of, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip), Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
TWAS-NRF Doctoral Fellowships Benefits
NRF will provide travel to and from South Africa, a standard monthly allowance which should be used to cover living costs, such as accommodation, food and health insurance.
TWAS-NRF Doctoral Fellowships Eligibility
Applicants for the TWAS-NRF Doctoral Fellowships Programme must meet the following criteria:
- must be nationals of a developing country (other than South Africa) if applying for the TWAS-NRF Doctoral programme;
- must be nationals or permanent residents from Africa (except South Africa) if applying for the TWAS-NRF African Renaissance Doctoral programme;
- must not hold any visa for temporary or permanent residency in South Africa or any developed country;
- must be a maximum of 35 years of age by 31 December of the year of application;
- must have obtained an M.Sc. degree in a field of natural sciences;
- must have proof of evaluation of all foreign qualifications (obtained from non-South African universities) evaluated by the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) or proof that the applicant has submitted his/her qualifications to SAQA for evaluation.
- provide evidence that s/he will return to her/his home country on completion of the fellowship;
- not take up other assignments during the period of her/his fellowship;
- provide an official letter from a host South African institution, department or laboratory and motivation from the applicant’s host;
- meet the following requirements of the English Language Proficiency Academic test: IELTS 6.5 (no band less than 6.0); or TOEFL (paper) 575 (TWE 4.5); or TOEFL iBIT (min. 20); or Cambridge minimum 58,
- present a detailed research project that must be registered and approved by the host institution and provide a letter of support from the prospective host supervisor;
- be financially responsible for any accompanying family members.
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Application instructions
Eligible applicants must follow steps below to submit their application:
- Contact institutions in South Africa or potential supervisors to obtain a placement into the doctoral research training programme. For details of recognised HEIs and other Public Research Institutions please click here.
- Apply for the NRF – TWAS Doctoral Fellowship for 2021 by clicking on the apply button below and following instructions to submit the application.
The deadline to submit application is . For more details on the TWAS-NRF Doctoral Fellowships, please visit the official page. To be the first to see latest opportunities, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.