Apply for Mo Ibrahim Foundation Governance for Development in Africa Initiative (GDAI) 2021 Ph.D. Scholarships for study in the United Kingdom (Fully Funded)

The Centre of African Studies offers 2 PhD scholarships to African nationals as part of the Governance for Development in Africa Initiative funded by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

Applications are invited for PhD studentships focused on the area of state capacities, governance and bureaucracy for development. This may include projects designed to understand public sector governance capabilities, political settlements, state business relations, the governance of state owned enterprises, the governance of development policy design and implementation, and so on. But applications must focus on the public sector/state/civil service, on governance, and on development.

In order to be considered for funding, applicants must first secure an UNCONDITIONAL OFFER for the PhD by applying directly to the SOAS Doctoral School.

Benefits

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has generously provided SOAS with two PhD scholarships per year for African students undertaking a full‐time PhD programme in the field of Governance for Development in Africa.
The scholarship provides for fees for three years and an annual bursary of £16.000 per year.
The scholarship also covers visa costs, HIS and TB (if undertaken), provided receipts are submitted to the Centre of African Studies office.
Candidates accept the scholarship offer on the basis of the funding conditions

Scholarship Criteria

– Domicile/Residency: Applicants must be domiciled (or permanent residents) in an African country. Preference will be given to scholarship candidates living in Sub‐Saharan Africa.

In order to be considered for funding, applicants must first secure an UNCONDITIONAL OFFER for the PhD by applying directly to the SOAS Doctoral School.

The eligible PhD are only those within the following departments:

Development Studies
Law
Economics
International Relations/Politics
CISD (Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy)
DEFIMS (Department for Financial and Management Studies )
Distance Learning: CEFIMS(Centre for Financial and Management Studies), DEFIMS

Once the place is secured, the applicants can apply for the scholarship. Candidates will be assessed on academic merit by a panel consisting of SOAS academic members. The assessment of your application will be based on the information in your scholarship application.

You may also check:

Please provide the following documents:

a copy of the unconditional offer received from SOAS admissions office
CV (please include your email address)
2 pages max statement outlining knowledge and interest in governance-related issues
Your research proposal (as sent to the SOAS Admissions Office)
one academic reference (to be sent directly by referee to ab17@soas.ac.uk)

Please note that CAS reserves the right not to award scholarships and will only award them where there are applicants judged to meet sufficiently high academic standards and with demonstrable interests in fields relevant to the objectives of the GDAI.

The guidance notes can be downloaded on the right hand side of this page.