Deadline: September 15, 2012
A three year fellowship (36 months) is offered to outstanding African junior researchers holding a Ph. D. (not more than three years after completion of Ph. D.). Project ideas must be developed independently by the applicant and should be realized primarily at an African institution. African scholars who have submitted their thesis but still need to pass the defense are also invited to submit a pre-proposal. If the applicant is still in the final phase of the Ph.D., a letter from the main supervisor is needed that the Ph.D. will be completed until the end of the selection process. The fellowship covers salary, research,travel and administrative costs up to a maximum of 90,000 EUR.
The budget must be justified specifically. It could include:
• Salary of the fellow or topping-up if already employed at the African research institution (depending on experience and customary local salaries),
• Alternatively, the budget for the topping up of the salary can be used to employ lecturers in order to reduce personal teaching duties
• Salaries of graduate students involved in the research project,
• Travel expenses for conferences/workshops,
• Research visits to African/non-African institutions of up to 3 – 4 months per year (including visits to the German partner institution),
• Language courses, or courses for project management etc.,
• Consumables,
• Publication costs,
• Administrative costs (max. 6,000 EUR),
• Small equipment (max. 10 % of total budget).
Additional and optional budget items
• Additional German postdoctoral fellow (optional, max. 25,000 EUR),
• Additional Mentorship Program (optional, max. 10,000 EUR),
• Costs of Preparatory Meeting for the full proposal with German partner institution and German Postdoctoral Fellow (optional, max. 5,000 EUR).
Application and Selection Process
The application is organized as a three-stage process, and pre-proposals must be submitted as one pdf file in English by 15 September 2012 to humanities2012@volkswagenstiftung.de, or alternatively via the electronic application system (https://portal.volkswagenstiftung.de/vwsantrag/ login.do?siteLanguage=en). In case you choose the latter means, only one file, PDF format, should contain the pre-proposal itself and all the appendices. After the selection of “Pre-proposal description” in the electronic application system this file should be uploaded there.
Stage 1
The pre-proposal applications will be reviewed by an international expert committee. Decisions will be communicated by December 2012. In case of a positive evaluation, recommendations from the review panel for the full proposal will be sent. Please, note the attached check-list for pre-proposals for Postdoctoral fellowships in the Humanities in Africa. Successful applicants of stage 1 may apply for funding of preparatory meetings of the prospective fellow with the German partner institution and the German postdoctoral fellow (if applicable). Date, venue, participants, and costs of these meetings have to be specified already in the pre-proposals. Due to the expected high number of submissions, we ask for your understanding that the Foundation cannot give any reasons in the case of refusal/rejection of the application.
Stage 2
Successful applicants of stage 1 will be invited to submit full proposals. All full proposals will undergo an international review process. Details of the requirements for full proposals including the recommendations made by the review committee will be forwarded to the successful applicants of stage 1. May 2012 6
Stage 3
Successful applicants of stage 2 will be invited to present their project at a selection workshop to be held in Africa in spring 2013. During the conference they will also be interviewed by an international review panel.
Notes for Applicants:
The Foundation can only provide funds to academic institutions. Furthermore, it is not possible to fund projects for development aid or short-term applications. The Foundation cannot consider applications which have been submitted at the same time either in the same or some similar form to other funding institutions. Also, the Foundation is not able to allocate funding to cover commitments entered into prior to the receipt of the grant letter.
Contact:
Dr. Cora Ziegenbalg
Phone: +49 (0) 511 8381 237
Fax: +49 (0) 511 8381 344
E-mail: ziegenbalg@volkswagenstiftung.de
