Call for Applications - Competitive Mentorship-Oriented Research Grant

Preamble

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), Makerere University received financial support from The Andrew W Mellon Foundation under the Competitive Mentorship-Oriented Research Grant to fund scholars to pursue cutting-edge and innovative research in the Arts, Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences. The research programme is intended to establish a platform for scholarly exchange and interaction nationally and internationally to nurture a new generation and community of scholars and provide intellectual leadership needed for future development and sustainability of the Arts, Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences disciplines in the country, the East African region and the continent at large.

The College now invites eligible applicants, whose proposed research projects are innovative, cutting-edge and demonstrate an explicit Inter-disciplinary focus in the Arts, Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences, to apply for the last three (3) fellowships for a one year2020 Competitive Mentorship-Oriented Research Grant. The grant is entirely for a Scholar’s research project under the academic mentorship of a senior scholar.

Eligibility

An eligible Competitive Mentorship-Oriented Research Grant Fellow is anyone who is employed by Makerere University (in CHUSS) on permanent terms, has completed his/her PhD training in the last 10 years, and has at least 1 articlepublished in academically recognized channels such as Refereed Journals/Book Projects at the time of application.

An eligible Mentor is a permanent member of academic staff in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at the rank of Associate Professor and above. S/he should be willing to support the academic agenda of the mentee as outlined in the research proposal.

Funding

The Competitive Mentorship-Oriented Research Grant is a fully-funded one-year programme of research with generous financial support from the Andrew W Mellow Foundation. The grant will cover costs related to baseline study, data collection, analysis, report writing, computing costs, field work and travel, conference attendance, consumables and books/media. The maximum value of the grant is approximately UGX 73,000,000or USD 20,000that will be dispatched according to the budget and plan of activities stipulated in the proposal.

Application Process

The grant application form is attached or can be requested for from graduate.college@chuss.mak.ac.ug. The application form is in Word format, which will expand to accommodate the text entered. Please note the following requirements of the grant proposal:

a 150-word abstract
a one-page academic biography describing your academic career and detailing the ideas and experiences that have shaped your work and your future plans. Please state where you see yourself in 5 years.
a grant proposal, in which you are expected to provide evidence of your ability to plan and organise independent research, and the relevance, feasibility and contribution of your proposed research topic to the study of Humanities and Social Sciences.
The proposal should be inserted into the application form. Failure to observe this rubric will lead to automatic disqualification of the proposal.

Deliverables

The 2020 grant starts in May 2020 and terminates in April 2021. The key deliverables for a successful Fellow and his/her mentor are as follows:

Publish and/or have at least two (2) articles accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal or book.
Present one (1) paper drawn from his/her project at an international conference.
Present one (1) paper at a locally CHUSS-organised academic event/workshop/symposium.
Supervise at least one graduate (Masters) student to completion. (Note: The Fellow must agree in writing to continue the supervision of the MA student after the cessation of the grant).
Submit six monthly progress reports during your Fellowship.

**Note that funds will not be released if a progress report is not submitted.

How to apply

The completed grant application form, together with copies of all the supporting documents (academic transcripts, reference letters and commitment from the proposed mentor and his/her CV) should be submitted as attachment preferably by e-mail to:

The Principal, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Makerere University, P.O BOX 7062 Kampala

Tel: +256414531909

Email: graduate.college@chuss.mak.ac.ug with copy to principal@chuss.mak.ac.ugno later than Friday, 27 March 2020. No late applications will be accepted.

For Further Information

In case of any questions regarding the programme or your application, kindly contact the following: