FAIS President Henry Mwandumba
The FLP is a joint venture between the Federation of African Immunological Societies (FAIS) and the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS). For the first time in the history of the IUIS, Africa will host its major international congress in Cape Town in 2022. As a pre- and post- conference legacy to this historic meeting, the FLP was conceived with the aim of training 1,000 African PhDs over the next 10 years. To achieve this goal and to transform the African science landscape, we need your help.
We are building a database of participating labs on our new website. You may be a potential co-supervisor working in an area of high relevance to African Immunology and keen to participate. You may already have African collaborators or wish you had some. We would like to feature your lab on our new website to initiate your participation in the FLP. Potential PhD students, collaborators and funders will look through our database.
What is the FLP? The FLP is a training program for African PhD students in immunology and related sciences. The FLP will help to build a new generation of excellent young leaders, urgently needed to tackle the communicable and non-communicable disease burden in Africa. The FLP also plans to use this training framework to provide a bridge between basic and translational immunology, coupled to industry partnerships, to help drive scientific discoveries for innovations that touch lives.
What do we need from you? Please fill out the attached form and provide a high-resolution photograph of yourself. We will use this information to populate our website, which we plan to launch on April 29th 2019, the International Day of Immunology. Through this website, we will be able to raise donor funds for the FLP and match potential students with your laboratory/group.
What have we done so far? We initiated the FLP with $50,000 seed funding from the IUIS, which we are using to currently support 10 PhD students from around Africa. Each of the students was selected based on the strength of the science, as well as the African and International labs, and are now spending 3-6 months in the international laboratory to gain special skills.
Below, you will find key information about the FLP, which will also be available on our website when it goes live.
Best wishes
Henry Mwandumba
FAIS President
How does the FLP work?
This is a sandwich PhD program. An African and international supervisor jointly develop a PhD project that is published on the FLP website. Potential African PhD students apply and are competitively recruited. The PhD student is registered at an African Institution and begins his or her project. The student will spend time during the course of their PhD in the international supervisors’ laboratory to gain key skills.
Where will the PhD students be registered?
The students will be registered at the Institutions where the African supervisor is located.
How do I find a collaborating supervisor?
Have a look at the participating laboratories listed on our website. If you do not find a suitable match, please email us describing briefly your area of research.
How will the PhD students be recruited?
They will be shortlisted based on a standardized application form and invited for online interviews, which will be conducted twice a year.
Is there any funding available?
We are actively seeking funding from multiple donors to support PhD student stipends.
How much does a PhD studentship cost?
The core cost of the studentship is USD 50,000 for a 3.5 year PhD. This covers a basic stipend, health insurance and travel costs. The actual research costs (e.g. consumables) will be borne by the supervisors.
Can I donate to the FLP?
Yes, you can be a bronze, silver, gold or platinum donor, contributing up to USD 500,000 or more. Please contact us.
Can I invite other potential supervisors to the FLP?
Certainly. This is a long-term project and we aim to train at least 1000 PhD students. Please share this widely amongst your colleagues.
When will the first batch of PhD students in Phase II of the FLP be recruited?
We anticipate recruitment of the first batch of PhD students in the second half of 2019.
Can I use my own research funds to support an African PhD student in the FLP?
Yes, supervisors who have their own funding are welcome to use it to support PhD student stipends.
Contact us
Please email: bon.holtak@uct.ac.za
