African Trust Infrastructures : Call for Doctoral Fellowship Applications

With generous support from Standard Bank for the second phase of the African Trust Infrastructures project, WISER invites applications for 3-year doctoral fellowships to be awarded to outstanding students from Political Science, History, Anthropology, Economics, Sociology, Law or any other related or 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 or the many forms of money and credit.  For more on the theoretical questions at stake in this research, review the materials at https://wiser.wits.ac.za/trust. (Please send questions about the research to Dr Laura Phillips at  laura.phillips@wits.ac.za, with a subject including the phrase “Trust doctoral 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, on site, in the intellectual life of the Institute.

Fellows will receive funding for three years; the package for the first year will be R250 000. This will cover university fees, research expenses and provide a living allowance. Some additional assistance with conference and research 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 no 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 February 2026