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 full-time doctoral fellowships OR 5-year part-time 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 topics associated with the Trust Project, such as histories and contemporary analyses of credit and lending, digital population registration and finance systems currently under development on the continent. (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.”)

The full-time programme 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. Full-time 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.

The part-time programme can be done in combination with other employment, but part-time fellows should be based in Johannesburg and find ways to at least partially participate in the intellectual life of the Institute. Part-time fellows will receive funding for their tuition but will not receive any support for their living expenses. Some additional assistance with conference and research funding may also be available.

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: 15 November 2026