The East Africa Social Science Translation (EASST) Collaborative invites African researchers to apply for a 4-month fellowship (sabbatical) at the University of California Berkeley, to be completed during the 2014-15 academic year. To be eligible, researchers must be residents of an East African country and hold a staff or student position at a research institution, university, or other organization headquartered in East Africa. Researchers from economics, epidemiology, statistics, and other quantitative social science disciplines are encouraged to apply. For this round of fellowships, the application deadline is:

11:59 pm U.S. Pacific Time on Wednesday, 26 March 2014

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ FELLOWSHIP ACTIVITIESDuring the fellowship period, visiting researchers will:

  • Participate in seminars and conferences on research in social and economic development;
  • Present their own work during seminars and workshops;
  • Audit courses, including rigorous doctoral-level seminars in impact evaluation, taught by faculty;
  • Carry out an independent research project under the mentorship of faculty members. Projects can use existing data for retrospective analysis or set-up a study design for future data collection;
  • Meet and collaborate with faculty or students in a variety of academic departments;
  • Design impact evaluation curricula that will be taught at an East African institution;
  • Participate in policy dissemination by contributing to policy briefs, attending meetings with policymakers and stakeholders, and presenting at events; and
  • Work with the World Bank and other partners to identify opportunities for future research.

Eligibility Eligible candidates for all EASST programs must:

  • Be a resident of an East African country participating in EASST (i.e. Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, or Uganda);
  • Have participated in field-based data collection and rigorous empirical techniques/analysis;
  • Have participated in or have familiarity with impact evaluation research (either randomized or quasi-experimental studies);
  • Hold a staff position at a research institution, university or other organization in East Africa, preferably one that supports policy-relevant, quantitative social science research;
  • Be computer literate, fluent in English, and a strong public speaker;
  • Have a PhD or Master’s degree (completed within the last 8 years) or be enrolled in a graduate program in economics, statistics, epidemiology/public health, or another social science discipline;
  • Plan to return to a research institute in East Africa for at least 1 year after the fellowship; and
  • Demonstrate a commitment to building the capacity of African research institutions/universities.

Selection Criteria Successful candidates must:

  • Demonstrate strong analytic skills, with past coursework in economics or statistics.
  • Experience conducting field research using empirical, quantitative and qualitative techniques.
  • Demonstrate an interest in rigorous program evaluation, policy analysis, and micro-level field data collection.
  • Submit a clear and innovative research proposal to evaluate a specific public policy or program, using randomized controlled trial or quasi-experimental methodologies.

Female applicants are strongly encouraged to apply. Preference will be assigned to fellows who have already completed a doctoral degree (PhD) in a relevant field of study. Application Instructions  Carefully review the Application Guidelines in this document. An online system is used to submit applications. Please submit completed versions of all required documents by the submission deadline.  No information and/or documents will be accepted after the closing date. All materials should be submitted using the online platform “Submittable” here Note: If you are unable to access the online system, please email info@easst-collaborative.org to request an application in WORD or RTF. Required Documents:

  1. Curriculum Vitae/Resume
  2. Transcript of any coursework completed within at least the last 5 years (i.e. your scores or grades from university courses). Scanned copy is acceptable.
  3. Employer Letter from the applicant’s supervisor or department chair demonstrating support and certifying that, if the applicant is selected, he/she will be able to take a 4-month leave of absence.
  4. Letter of recommendation that describes the applicant’s research capacity. Please use the form provided in the announcement.
  5. OPTIONAL: You may attach one working paper or publication

The deadline for submission is:Midnight U.S. Pacific time, Wednesday, 26 March 2014   To download a PDF of the guidelines here Complete the online application here For more information visit here