Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) PhD Fellowship 2026

📖 About the Fellowship

The Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) offers a collaborative doctoral training program in public and population health. This program addresses the challenges faced by African institutions in training and retaining the next generation of academics. CARTA aims to support PhD candidates who will become future research leaders within and beyond their institutions.

In 2026, CARTA will provide 22 awards to successful applicants. The multi-disciplinary fellowship is open to staff members of CARTA African partner institutions, in any discipline, who are interested in conducting PhD research on topics relevant to public and population health.

📅 Opportunity Details

• Date Published: August 09, 2025
• Application Deadline: August 20, 2025
• Category: PhD, Postgraduate
• Eligible Locations: Africa

🎁 Benefits

The fellowship offers the following support:

• A series of structured training programs to help fellows navigate their doctoral journey.
• Laptop.
• A modest stipend for 28 months.
• Research funds (up to $10,500, depending on the budget) to support fellows in implementing their research projects and engaging stakeholders and communities.

✅ Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Hold a Master’s degree in a relevant field.
• Be bona fide teaching or research staff at one of the participating African institutions. Institutions must:
  • Commit to paying fellows’ salaries (or equivalent) as faculty members.
  • Provide a supportive work environment allowing fellows to fully participate in CARTA activities and focus on their PhD studies.
  • Waive fellows’ fees when they register for their PhD at their institution of employment.
• Commit to strengthening capacity at their institutions.
• PhD research proposals must relate to public and population health.
• Applicants must not have registered for a PhD or must be in the very early stages (first year) of their PhD program.
• Admission into a PhD program is not required for application, but awards are contingent on admission at a participating African university within the first 12 months of the fellowship.
• Commit to participating in residential Joint Advanced Seminars (JAS) and inter-seminar activities.
• Age requirements:
  • Men: Under 40 years.
  • Women: Under 45 years.

🌍 Eligible Institutions

Applicants from the following institutions are eligible to apply:

• African Population and Health Research Center, Kenya
• Agincourt Health and Population Unit, South Africa
• Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania
• Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Malawi
• Makerere University, Uganda
• Moi University, Kenya
• Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria
• University of Ibadan, Nigeria
• University of Nairobi, Kenya
• University of Rwanda, Rwanda
• University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

📝 Application Process

1. Contact the CARTA focal person at your institution to discuss your interest and obtain application materials.
2. Submit application forms and reference letters by August 20, 2025, at 23:59 hours EAT via the REDCap system.
   • Access the application here.
   • Focus on obtaining required documents and securing institutional support; research proposals may be refined during the full application process.
3. CARTA partner institutions will nominate candidates for the full application process.
4. Nominated candidates must submit a full application by September 21, 2025, through the application system (shared with invited candidates).

📋 Full Application Requirements

The full application includes:

• A full research proposal.
• Updated CV.
• Letter of support from the institution committing to modify workloads for fellows and waive fees.
• Three timed tasks:
  1. Critical review of a scientific article.
  2. Numeracy task.
  3. Critical thinking task.
• Two free online courses:
  1. Understanding plagiarism course.
  2. Basic Health Research Ethics course.

Applications will only be accepted through the official portal. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

📅 Key Dates

• August 20, 2025: Application deadline.
• September 21, 2025: Full application submission deadline (for nominated candidates).
• November 15, 2025: Final fellowship decision communicated by CARTA Secretariat.
• March 1, 2026: Fellowship commences with a 3-week-long JAS-1. Pre-JAS tasks will be due between January and February 2026.

🔗 Application Portal

• View details of the fellowship here.
• Apply for the fellowship here.

• A series of structured training programs to capacitate the fellows in navigating their doctoral journey.
• A laptop.
• A modest stipend for 28 months only.
• Research funds (a maximum of $10,500) to support the fellows in implementing their proposed research project.