REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS FOR THE IAEA PhD SANDWICH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME

INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY
                          DEPARTMENT OF TECHNICAL COOPERATION
                          DIVISION FOR AFRICA
RAF0052: Supporting Human Resource Development in Nuclear Science and
Technology (AFRA)
REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS FOR THE IAEA PhD SANDWICH FELLOWSHIP
PROGRAMME
The Division for Africa through the Technical Cooperation Programme requests for
applications for the PhD Sandwich Programme. In 2020, we plan to award on a competitive
basis at least 20 PhD sandwich fellowships to students/scientists from Chartered Universities
in Africa.
1. Programmatic Context
The PhD Sandwich Fellowship Programme will be implemented within the framework of the
regional TC project RAF0052: Supporting Human Resource Development in Nuclear Science
and Technology (AFRA). This project was recently approved within the framework of TC
Cycle 2018-2019.
This project is approved for 4 years (2018-2021) and is managed by the Division for Africa,
Department of Technical Cooperation (TC), in collaboration with the Nuclear Knowledge
Management (NKM) Section, Department of Nuclear Energy.
2. Member States’ contributions for the PhD Sandwich Fellowship Programme
Under this Programme, the selected candidates will be partially funded by the IAEA. However,
nominating Member States will provide Government Costs Sharing estimated at half of the
total training costs before the award of the PhD sandwich fellowship programme. Due attention
will be given to candidates from LDCs to ensure that this programme contributes to
develop/enhance their human resources capacities. It is envisaged that the second cohort of
PhD sandwich fellows could start their training for the academic year 2020/2021.
3. Priority Thematic Areas of the PhD Sandwich Fellowship Programme
The PhD Sandwich Fellowship Programme focuses on the following regional priority
thematic
areas defined in the AFRA Regional Strategic Cooperative Framework 2019-2023. These
include:
 Food and Agriculture;
 Human Health and Nutrition
 Water resources management
 Nuclear Engineering
 Industrial Applications
 Energy Planning
 Climate Change and
 Radiation Safety.
4. Duration
part of their study programme in their home university and pursue their PhD research work in
a foreign university for a maximum duration not exceeding 24 months.
5. Application Requirements
The following required application materials shall be sent to Division for Africa by 18
September 2020 for the academic year 2020/2021 admission:
1) The candidate’s curriculum Vitae (one page);
2) A copy of the duly certified Master’ degree;
3) Transcripts of the Master’ degree (English version with signature and or seal by the
student’s home university.); NB: Preference will be given to candidates with at least upper
second class honours degree.
5) An official letter from the candidate home university confirming that the candidate is
registered and enrolled in the PhD programme;
6) A Letter of admission to a foreign University;
7) A Letter from the home country University Supervisor’s confirming that he/she supervises
the candidate’s PhD research work;
8) A Letter from the foreign University Supervisor’s accepting to supervise the candidate;
9) A study research plan clearly indicating preferred technical work to be carried by the
candidate in the relevant research fields including detailed timeframe;
10) A recommendation letter from the Head of candidate’s institution through the AFRA
National Coordinator for bonding purposes;
11) A duly completed IAEA Application form for Fellowship Training;
12) A language certificate from a certified language centre;
13) A recent medical certificate from an authorized Medical Consultant.
In this context, National Liaison Officers (NLOs), AFRA National Coordinators (AFRA NCs)
and representatives of Chartered Universities in respective countries are encouraged to work
closely to select the best qualified candidates competitively and recommend them to the
Division for Africa with the endorsement of AFRA National Coordinators for consideration.
Note: The applicants must fill in their application form correctly and provide the above
information. All the submitted application documents will not be returned, please do not send
original certificates.
6. Application Procedures
Step 1: Applicants who meet the above-mentioned qualifications are requested to submit no
later than 31 August 2020 through the online InTouchPlus platform
http://intouchplus.iaea.org) their fellowship application form. Fellowship applications
received after the above-mentioned deadline will not be considered.
Step 2: Prepare all paper application documents and submit through the InTouch plus
platform the scanned copies together with the above-mentioned application form.
Candidates willing to apply for this event should follow the steps below:
2. 1. Access the InTouch+ home page (https://intouchplus.iaea.org) using the candidate’s
existing Nucleus username and password. If the candidate is not a registered Nucleus user,
she/he must create a Nucleus account (https://websso.iaea.org/IM/UserRegistrationPage.aspx)
before proceeding with the event application process below.
2. 2. On the InTouch + platform, the candidate should:
a. Finalize or update her/his personal details, provide sufficient information to establish the
required qualifications regarding education, language skills and work experience (‘Profile’ tab)
and upload relevant supporting documents;
b. Search for the relevant technical cooperation event (EVT2003544) under the ‘My Eligible
Events’ tab, answer the mandatory questions and lastly submit the application to the required
authority.
NOTE: Completed applications need to be approved by the NLO and/or AFRA National
Coordinator and submitted to the IAEA through the established official channels by the
provided designation deadline.
For additional support on how to apply for an event, please refer to the InTouch+ Help page.
InTouch+ Help page. Any issues or queries related to InTouch+ can be addressed to
[email protected]
7. Selection Procedures
1. Upon the receipt, all applications received through the AFRA National Coordinator will be
reviewed by the IAEA after the deadline.
2. The Division for Africa will communicate the list of selected to AFRA National
Coordinators;
3. The selected candidates will be notified by email upon receipt of the AFRA National
Coordinators’ final decision regarding bonding and commitment;
4. Thereafter, the Division for Africa will send letters of fellowship award and visa
documents to selected applicants by mail two weeks after the above-mentioned email notice.
8. Award of the PhD Sandwich Programme.
Detailed information regarding the award of the PhD Sandwich Fellowship Programme will
be described in the Letter of Appointment which will be sent to the selected candidates. In
general, the award would include the following:
 Training fees (registration fee, bench fee, course fee and examination fee) paid to the
foreign University;
 Return air fares;
 Medical insurance and a
 Monthly Stipend to cover accommodation, food costs and training/research materials