Funding for PhD fellowships

Applications are invited from nationals of lymphatic filariasis (LF) endemic countries in the Africa and Asia-Pacific regions.

It is expected that during the fellowship period (between 2010-2014), students will develop skills to work in new and promising areas of research targeted at addressing key gaps in knowledge regarding the most effective means for achieving elimination of lymphatic filariasis by 2020.

Applicants should be nationals of LF endemic countries and be employees of national Ministries of Health or other public health and/or research/academic institutions involved in neglected disease control of these countries. Preference will be given to candidates who have completed a period of post-graduate training (MSc or MD). Candidates should demonstrate how the fellowship will be utilised upon return to their home country. Two awards are available for the Asia-Pacific region (for female candidates only) and four in the Africa region. Female candidates are encouraged to apply.

OVERALL OBJECTIVE

The outcome of these studentships is to have trained individuals in endemic countries who can support national programmes to further enhance in-country knowledge and skills. On completing their studentships, the individuals return to their home institutes to add to the institutional and regional capacity.

APPLICATION GUIDELINES

Applicants must submit by e-mail only:

1.A full Curriculum Vitae including:

a.Full name with family name underlined; b.Date of birth and nationality; c.Name, address, telephone number, fax number and e-mail address of Ministry of Health/Institution where the applicant is employed; d.Educational qualifications, including place of study, date of conclusion and degree obtained (transcripts and photocopies of qualifications are not required but may be requested later); e.A brief description of the applicant's current and previous post; and f.A list of the applicant's publications and other abstracts or presentations 2.A description of the applicant's current work/research interests and how the training will impact the activities of the national NTD control programme 3.A letter of commitment to continue to work in the institution for a minimum of five (5) years after completion of the doctoral studies to contribute to capacity building in health research.

4.Letters of recommendation from the national NTD/LF programme manager and one senior scientist/professor on letter headed paper that includes full contact details.

5.An endorsement from the Head of the applicant's Ministry of Health/Institution testifying to the ability of the applicant to successfully undertake the Fellowship and certifying that the applicant, if selected, will be granted a leave of absence. The Head should also indicate how the proposed training will strengthen the institution's public health capacities upon completion of the PhD.

The above Fellowships are a time-limited study opportunity (four years) funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The monthly stipend is set at the LSTM stipend rate.

APPLICATION DEADLINE

All applications must be received by 31 January 2010

The full application must be submitted as a pdf, word or rtf file by e-mail to ntd@liv.ac.uk with the e-mail subject line "CNTD PhD Application". Late applications and incomplete applications will not be accepted. Successful applicants may be requested to provide certified hard copies of certificates.

For further information please contact Dr John Haskew at: ntd@liv.ac.uk Course Coordinator Dr John Haskew Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Pembroke Place Liverpool, L3 5QA, UK

Tel: +44 151 705 3335

www.cntd.org