APPLY: 2023 African Career Acceleration Fellowships

Applications for the CAN African Career Acceleration Fellowships 2023 are now open. The Crick Africa Network (CAN) is offering African Career Acceleration Fellowships supported by LifeArc for early-career biomedical scientists to develop translational scientific programmes and become independent scientists.

They are looking for ambitious early-career African scientists who can demonstrate strong scientific and leadership potential, a keen interest in translational science, and a commitment to establishing their own research groups and continuing their careers on the African continent.

Research Themes

All projects should have translational potential. Their definition of translational science is that it serves clinical, commercial, or environmental benefit. It should address a clear unmet medical need and bridge the gap between basic discovery science and product development and can include:

human genetics
disease pathogenesis and immunogenetics
pathogen genomics or bioinformatics
host-pathogen interaction
diagnostics and biomarkers
pandemic preparedness
antimicrobial resistance (AMR), or
drug and vaccine discovery for development

Their priority areas include

diseases caused by viruses such as HIV, HBV and SARS-CoV-2
bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium ulcerans
other bacterial pathogens including AMR-priority pathogens
fungal pathogens
protozoal pathogens that cause diseases such as typanosomiasis, malaria and cryptospoidiosis
helminths, and
other neglected tropical diseases

Requirements
To be eligible to apply for the African Career Acceleration Fellowship you must have:

Citizenship or permanent residency status for an African country;
A PhD in a relevant field with two to five years of postdoctoral experience, or a clinical PhD (MBChB) with at least three years of relevant research experience;
A strong track record indicating potential as a scientific leader on the African continent;
A strong translational science proposal in one of the CAN research areas;
Approached and reached an agreement regarding your proposed science with your mentor in your chosen African partner institute and your chosen mentor at the Crick before submitting your scientific proposal.

Benefits

LifeArc-sponsored African Career Acceleration Fellowship will provide four years of funding and be hosted primarily in one of five African partner institutions:

University of Cape Town
MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit
Stellenbosch University
West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, University of Ghana

Application procedure and deadline

Applications can be completed through the online portal. Application deadline is 12th November, 2023