In this video, fellows and workshop mentors from the past four years speak about the vitality and impact of mentoring within the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa program.
The Next Generation Social Sciences model supports the intellectual development of early career faculty members who have yet to complete their PhD and invests in activities that will provide them with enhanced research capabilities, greater credentials, and an international network of researchers.
The model employs a two-pronged approach to build individual capabilities and institutional capacity:
Fellowships
Three distinct competitive fellowship opportunities are offered. These fellowships provide financial support at three different crucial but precarious stages during the doctoral dissertation process: proposal development, dissertation research, and the completion of the dissertation. These are presented as a sequence, allowing fellows who have successfully completed one stage to apply for the next.
Workshops
Skill-building workshops held at a local partner university twice each year are tailored to the specific needs of fellows according to their respective stages of study. These workshops strengthen research capabilities, help researchers develop publications, and allow fellows to engage in an international research community. Distinguished senior researchers from the region serve as workshop leaders and mentor fellows over the course of the year.
Supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York, currently the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Program supports faculty from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. In these countries, the program fosters research specifically engaging peace, security, and development issues from new and diverse perspectives.
The Next Generation Social Sciences program, launched in 2011, responds to an emerging dilemma within higher education in the global South caused by the extraordinary emphasis on increasing undergraduate enrollment without proportionate investment in faculty development. The program currently operates to strengthen tertiary education in Africa through a series of institutional and individual interventions, creating a pipeline for the development of faculty and research communities working on peace, security, and development topics. Currently the program operates in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.