News
Cluster of Excellence launches new Fellowship program for the academic year 2019/20
23.07.2019
The invitations are out: The Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence will host a total number of 30 fellows in the upcoming academic year. The fellowships at the University of Bayreuth will last between one and six months and are designed to create synergies with the Cluster’s particular research goals.
Starting October 2019 the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence will host participants of a newly launched fellowship program organized by the Bayreuth Academy of Advanced African Studies. Robert Debusmann, the Coordinator Research for the Cluster of Excellence, explains. “Drawing from our experiences in the past the Bayreuth Academy is now organizing a new fellowship program that will be closely linked to the Cluster of Excellence. We have just sent out the invitations for the 30 fellows we intend to host between October 2019 and July 2020 and are looking forward to their contribution to the research and scholarly debates in African studies.”
Fellows will contribute to the Cluster of Excellence’s agenda
The fellowships are designed to enable scholars of African studies to pursue their own individual projects of significance while contributing to the Cluster of Excellence’s theoretical and thematic agenda. During their stay at the University of Bayreuth fellows join an international group of junior and senior scholars affiliated to the Cluster. At the same time, they will be immersed in the university’s vibrant community of researchers coming from more than fifteen academic disciplines. During their fellowship participants will take part in events organised by the Cluster of Excellence for instance afternoon lectures, seminars and discussion groups. Additionally, fellows will present a talk based on their research within the Bayreuth Academy.
Fellows 2019/20: A diverse group
The application process started in April. In an international call, 96 scholars from all over the world were invited to apply in order to become the first Cluster’s fellows. In the months that followed the Academic Committee decided which applicants were eligible to participate in the program. To the international call, 96 scholars applied. From October 2019 onwards, 14 fellows will come from Africa (Nigeria, Kenia, Southern Africa), five from the US, two from India, six participants will join the program from Germany. Also the period of time they will spend at the University of Bayreuth varies: from one month up to half a year. (sg)