West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens – College of Basic and Applied Sciences
DELTAS PhD Fellowships

The WACCBIP-DELTAS programme, sponsored by the Wellcome Trust, is offering PhD fellowships for aspiring African scientists to work in an environment that supports high caliber research, promotes the development of scientific leadership and enables networking with other scientists throughout Africa. As a new centre of excellence for biomedical research, WACCBIP supports a wide range of research activities, and in conjunction with its international partners, provides a rigorous PhD training programme.

Eligibility

To apply for this fellowship, you must:

1. Be an African national who holds a relevant Masters degree
2. Be a highly motivated individual interested in human genetics or host-pathogen genomics
3. Be interested in working on one of the following priority disease areas and research themes:

Priority Diseases

Non-communicable diseases including:

• Sickle Cell Disease
• Diabetes
• Cancers
• Stroke/Hypertension
• Kidney Disease

Infectious diseases including:

• Protozoan pathogens – Malaria & Trypanosomiasis
• Fungal pathogens – Cryptococcosis, Candidiasis
• Helminths – Schistosomiasis, Filariasis
• Mycobacteria – Tuberculosis & Buruli ulcer
• Other Bacterial Pathogens – Gastro-intestinal and blood infections
• Viruses – HIV/AIDS, EBVD, Rotaviral Infections, Influenza, Dengue fever

Research themes:

• Human genetics
• Disease pathogenesis and immunogenetics
• Pathogen genomics/Bioinformatics
• Host-pathogen interactions
• Diagnostics
• Molecular epidemiology
• Drug and vaccine discovery for development

The candidate will conduct their PhD research at one of the following institutions across Africa:

• West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP)
• Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology – University of Ghana (BCMB-UG)
• Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research – University of Ghana (NMIMR-UG) Ghana
• Malaria Research and Training Center at the University of Science, Techniques, and Technology, Bamako Mali
• Medical Research Unit, Fajara The Gambia
• Kenya Medical Research Institute, Killifi, Kenya
• Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kisumu, Kenya
• Division of Human Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town South Africa

The PhD training includes a six-month research visit to one of the following institutions:

• University of Cambridge
• University of Oxford
• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• University of Pittsburgh

The successful PhD fellow will be expected to:

• Conduct high quality research leading to the publication of at least 2 papers in peer reviewed journals
• Contribute to the training of undergraduate students
• Graduate with a University of Ghana PhD degree in Biochemistry or Molecular Cell Biology of Infectious Diseases, depending on the research theme.

The successful PhD fellow will be supported with up to $ 130,000 to cover:

• Tuition at the University of Ghana
• A monthly stipend
• Research supplies and reagents
• Six-month research visit abroad
• Other related costs (such as international conference, Courses and Workshops)

Please download full fellowship application forms from this link.
Interested applicants may send their complete application documents to: waccbipleader@ug.edu.gh and waccbip@gmail.com

Deadline for applications is 31st January, 2016.