Applicants have to be women researchers fulfilling all the following criteria:

• Applicants are post-doc female scholars (minimum one year after defending their Ph.D.) or in mid-career positions who experience challenges to progress in their career path due to limited access to training, infrastructure, and international networks. There are no age limits. 

• Scholarship candidates should be national and resident in one of the VLIR- UOS scholarship countries (Benin,  Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe); or employee of a target organization in one of these countries (candidates exceptionally can have a different nationality). This requirement is not applicable for the Slot Water and Oxidative Stress Resistance (Slot Identification Number: ODF_06).

• Applicants' research fields must be plant breeding, agrobiotechnology, molecular biology and genetics, microbiology, chemical ecology, plant & soil health, livestock or aquaculture. 
•  Applicants must have an active employment contract in a High Education institution or an (inter)national research center in any of the countries listed above for the duration of the fellowship (20 months), where they conduct research and teach.
• Applicants are supervising MSc or PhD students and supporting staff.

Documents to fulfill the application process 

• A duly filled application (form below).
• A motivation letter from the candidate.
• A maximum 3-page CV. Please note that a CV with more than three pages will not be reviewed.
• Soft copies of the academic transcripts of the Ph.D. and the diploma.
• A list of publications, including papers, book chapters, technical reviews in indexed journals and patents. Only articles in the Web of Science: Master Journal List will be considered valid publications[1].
• A signed letter from the applicant's direct supervisor to indicate how she/he intends to support the fellow in completing her training program[2]
• An official signed letter from the Human Resources Office of the applicant's institution to prove that the applicant has a valid contract in SSA for the duration of the fellowship. The letter also should inform on what support the fellow will receive during the training period. An HR focal point should commit to participating in the four webinars related to gender-equitable practices in the workplace during the 20 months of the fellowship.
• A signed letter from the research center in Belgium supporting the applicant's short research stay (only for Modality B applications).

All these documents are compulsory for a valid application. Submissions will be reviewed when you receive the documents via the form below.

Incomplete applications will be notified via e-mail to the applicants, who will have ten days to provide the missing documents. After this period, incomplete applications will be rejected. 

Application closes on the 31st of December 2023. 

[1] Publications submitted, accepted, or in press: Indicate the date of submission or acceptance and the number of pages submitted. For Publications, use the following format: Use the following format: Full authorship as it appears or as it will appear in the original publication (with your name in bold): Year, Title, Publication name and volume, and First and last page numbers. Patents: Include the title and names of joint inventors. Posters: Indicate the presenting author with an asterisk (*). Example: Surname, X.X.*. Conferences: Indicate whether institutional, regional, provincial, national or international. Make a distinction between oral and poster presentations. In all cases, indicate whether the publication resulted from work conducted while completing your undergraduate, master’s, or doctoral degree or other relevant work experience. Updates to your publication record will not be accepted after the application has been submitted.

[2] This includes not only actions to support the fellow to keep her research going in Africa while the fellow is in Belgium, but the letter should also inform about the commitment of the supervisor to a) participate in online seminars related to gender-sensitive and gender-equitable practices in the workplace; b) support the fellow to organize activities meant to increase the visibility of her research;  and c) avail time for training activities of the ODPF.