The African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) is pleased to announce the call for applications for the AI4D Africa Scholarship Programme for Persons with Disabilities funded by IDRC and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO).
The programm aims to support Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in sub-Saharan Africa. The African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) has received a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to support the scholarship of Persons with Disability (PWD) within sub-Saharan Africa. The funding will support the training of PhD students in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) and the research work of Early Career Academics in AI & ML. The research work within this program must be in AI and attempt to address any of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The award of the scholarships shall strive to achieve uniform distribution of beneficiaries across Francophone, Anglophone, and Lusophone sub-Saharan Africa. Their strategy is to enhance the representation of equity-seeking groups. Based on the applications received, they will seek to ensure women fill at least 50% of the positions given their under-representation in the AI field.
The following complementary activities will be provided to strengthen the capacity of beneficiaries of the scholarships (PhD candidates and their supervisors; ECA candidates and their MSc students);
- SRAIS (Scaling of Responsible AI solutions) mentoring.
- Sensitization of responsible data collection framework.
- Scaling of AI solutions.
- AI policy brief development.
- One regional research and development conference after 24 months
Starting Date: June 1, 2025
Benefits
The AI4D scholarship for Persons with Disabilities will support:
- PhD students in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) with a partial scholarship of up to US$ 28,000
- Early Career Academics in AI & ML with funding of up to US$ 41,500
- Scholars with capacity-strengthening activities such as mentoring in the scaling of responsible AI solutions and much more!
Eligibility
Applicants for the Fellowship must meet the following requirements:
- Each applicant must have held a PhD in AI and ML, for not more than 5 years as an application.
- All applicants should have competent academic credentials and demonstrate motivation and commitment to pursue an academic career.
- All applicants must be nationals or permanent residents of an eligible sub-Saharan country.
- Must be a Person with Disability (PWD) – physical, sensory, intellectual, or any other recognized disability.
- Have PWD registration certificate issued by state/national council/body or any other relevant form of documentation.
- Have all necessary national or other approvals to conduct the proposed research.
- Please note, the approval process may be conducted in parallel with the grant application, if necessary.
- Have the technical capacity – or the ability to create sustainable AI solutions addressing social challenges faced by user communities.
Application Process
To apply for the AI4D Africa Scholarship for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), click here.
Deadline: January 05, 2024.
For more information about the AI4D Africa Scholarship for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), visit the official site.
