LUCAS-LAHRI Virtual Research Fellowships Scheme

The Leeds University Centre for African Studies (LUCAS), in collaboration with the Leeds Arts and Humanities Research Institute (LAHRI), is pleased to announce a limited number of short-term virtual research fellowships for 2021.

The Virtual Research Fellowships are short-term (three-month) fellowships for academics based at institutions on the African continent, who through these positions will be given an opportunity to undertake a well-defined piece of research in collaboration with academics at Leeds. Each fellowship comes with an award of £1,000, to be used by the applicant for research expenses and/or buy-out from teaching duties at their institution.

The scheme is thematically linked to the LAHRI-funded Sadler seminar series “African Knowledges for Global Challenges” running this year. This interdisciplinary series explores questions related to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Challenges Research agendas from critical decolonial and Africa-centred perspectives. Hence, we welcome proposals that foreground “Africa” as a starting point for interrogating existing, and developing new knowledges relating to major societal challenges.

The ‘well-defined piece of research’ that the Fellow will work on during the fellowship will have a tangible output, in the form of a publication (jointly authored with a Leeds academic) AND/OR a grant application (jointly prepared with a Leeds academic and supported by LAHRI).

During their tenure, the Fellows will be associated with the University of Leeds, administratively hosted by LAHRI, while intellectually embedded in the research community of LUCAS. They will have access to online library resources and participate in research activities of LUCAS and other units relevant to their research interests. Each Fellow will also deliver an open presentation, for example as a virtual student-facing lecture or a research seminar, based on the topic of their research.

Eligibility criteria

Candidates who have completed their PhD by the application deadline at any university are eligible, as long as they are currently based at an academic institution on the African continent. Proposals from Arts, Humanities, humanistic Social Sciences and adjacent disciplines are welcome as long as they broadly and critically engage with the theme of “African Knowledges for Global Challenges”. Applicants will have to confirm that a University of Leeds academic member of staff has agreed to support their application.

Deadlines

The deadline for applications is 5pm (GMT) on Monday 8 March 2021.

The three-month fellowship period is supposed to be taken up in the period May–December 2021.

Please download the Scheme Details and Expression of Interest form for further information.