Invitation to Apply
Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Peace, Security and Development
The African Leadership Centre (ALC) was established in Kenya in June 2010 as a joint initiative of King’s College London and the University of Nairobi. The ALC is pleased to announce that it is inviting applications for its newly established Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Peace, Security and Development starting in May 2018. This Fellowship is for 12 months renewable. It comprises an attachment to the African Leadership Centre Nairobi, Kenya, and a visiting appointment at King’s College London. The Post-Doctoral Fellow will undertake an independent, rigorous research project in-line with the ALC’s current research agenda, titled ‘Peace, Society and the State in Africa’.
The Carnegie Corporation of New York has recently agreed to support the ALCs programme titled ‘Future Peace, Society and the State in Africa: Building Knowledge with Future Leaders’. This includes funding to support the ALC’s research agenda on Peace, Society and the State in Africa, which for the first time includes funding for this Post-Doctoral Fellowship programme.
The ALC is committed to the following core values:
• African-led ideas and processes of change;
• Respect for diversity in all its forms;
• Independent thinking;
• Recognition of Youth agency;
• Pursuit of excellence;
• Integrity'
The ALC aims to build a new community of leaders generating cutting-edge knowledge on peace, security and development. To this end, the ALC undertakes to do the following:
- Taught MScs on Security, Leadership and Society, including mentoring and institutional attachments;
- A series of ALC Peace and Security Fellowship Programmes, including: Fellowship for African Scholars; Fellowship for African Women; Early-Career Fellowship; PhD Fellowship; Post-Doctoral Fellowship; and the Future Leaders Programme.
- Peacebuilding and Security research – with a focus on “Future Peace and the Role of the State in Africa”;
- Consolidating partnerships with African universities through transfer of specified and joint research outputs into virtual learning across partner institutions;
- Creating and strengthening digital knowledge transfer platforms and policy influencing processes.
The Post-Doctoral Fellowship programme is designed to assist the career development of African scholars who have recently completed their PhD programme (meaning in the last five years), by directing their research interests around a well-defined, ongoing research agenda within a broad collaborative network or scholars. The programme seeks to nurture Post-Doctoral African Scholars interested in furthering their research skills and career goals in relation to peace, security and development, and to equip them with the skills necessary to achieve this.
As part of the 12-month programme the Post-Doctoral Fellow will undertake their own research project culminating in a series of publications. They will spend a minimum total of 9-months each year at the ALC in Nairobi, Kenya, engaging with and participating in select research projects being undertaken at the Centre. They will also be expected to travel to King’s College London, UK, at various intervals throughout the programme, to engage with academic workshops, research days and symposium. A full Job Description is included with this announcement.
Eligibility
- In order to be considered eligible, candidates must have citizenship in an African country.
- Applicants should be an ALC Alumnus who has completed an ALC Fellowship Programme, and have good knowledge of the ALC’s working practices and expectations.
- Successful candidates must hold valid travel documents prior to acceptance.
- The competition is open only to people who have completed their PhD programme within the last 5 years or have submitted their full PhD thesis for examination, from departments of political science; international relations; history; law; development studies; peace; security and conflict studies, and related departments.
- Candidates need to demonstrate a particularly strong interest in pursuing careers in the field of peace, security and development.
- Candidates must additionally be able to demonstrate a particularly strong capacity to undertake research on issues relating to peace and security in Africa. Successful candidates will be attached to a Research Cluster where they will work with ALC Research Associates and Senior Research Fellows to undertake research on select aspects of the ALC Research Agenda on “Peace, Society and the State in Africa”.
- Candidates will be expected to have a clear career-plan on how to utilise knowledge gained in the Fellowship upon returning to their countries and academic institutions.
- Candidates must be fluent in spoken and written English.
- Candidates must have demonstrated a particularly strong interest in and following of ALC core values during their career thus far, namely: Independent thinking; Integrity; Pursuit of excellence; and respect for all forms of diversity.
Apply
Applications will be accepted via email sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., with subject title ‘ALC POST-DOC FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION’. The deadline for applications is 23:59 hrs, Thursday 5th April 2018.
The following documents are required, before your application will be considered complete:
- Recent curriculum vitae (including list of relevant publications)
- A one-page supporting statement, detailing why you think that this programme is important and your future plans for engagement with peace and security research.
- A three-page research proposal, related to the ALCs ongoing research agenda Peace, Security and the State in Africa (details can be found here)
- One example of written work, preferably published
Download the Job Description here
