African Trust Infrastructures : Call for Doctoral Fellowship Applications

Over the last twenty years WiSER has established itself as the leading interdisciplinary research institute in the Humanities and Social Sciences on the African continent. From 2023, with generous support from Standard Bank, the Institute will establish a new chair in African Trust Infrastructures.

We now invite applications for three 3-year doctoral fellowships to be awarded to outstanding students from any appropriate discipline.

Fellows will be expected to research the origins and institutional effects of the digital population registration and finance systems currently under development on the continent. Examples here could include Ethiopia’s new Fayda platform, the GhanaCard, Rwanda’s Digital ID, Kenya’s Huduma Card, and the Nigerian National Identification Management Commission. For more on the theoretical questions at stake in this research, please review this document. (Please send questions about the research to keith.breckenridge@wits.ac.za, with the subject including the phrase “ATI fellowship.”)

This is a full-time programme and is not compatible with other employment. Fellows will be expected to work closely with research staff, and to participate fully in the intellectual life of the Institute.

Fellows will receive funding for three years; the package for the first year will be R180 000. This will cover university fees, research expenses and provide a living allowance. Some assistance with conference funding may also be available. Fellows will be required to undertake up to 5 hours work a week for WiSER.

To apply, please submit the following to the Google form on this page. (The application process requires that you make use of a gmail account to upload your documents, but we will keep not record of it.)

• Complete set of course transcripts for each degree
• Curriculum Vitae, including the names and contact details of three academic referees.
• A writing sample of your choice
• A one page description of your interest in this subject.

Closing date for applications: 20 January 2023