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Training, Grants
and Fellowships |
CODESRIA
has responded to the training needs of African researchers by building
a formidable training programme. Activities which it has developed and
promoted for this purpose range from the award of small grants for
thesis writing in African universities and the organisation of a number
of annual, theme-specific ‘summer institutes’ to the funding of
methodological training sessions, the award of advanced research
fellowships, the convening of an Annual Social Science Campus, the
launching of an initiative on the Intellectual History of Africa, and a
textbook project. Through these programmes, the Council attempts at one
and the same time to accommodate and cater for the needs and interests
of young and upcoming researchers, mid-career scholars and the most
senior and experienced members of the African academy.
Thus
although the different training activities undertaken by the Council
are tailored to serve the needs of specific sections of the social
research community, they also constitute an important element in the
effort to mobilise all the social research constituencies active on the
continent.
In
1996, all the training programmes of the Council were regrouped into
one specific department, the Department of Training and Grants. The
objective of the training activities remain the same however, namely,
to respond creatively and speedily to the training needs of African
researchers while encouraging innovation and experimentation in the
development of new activities designed to cater to the ever-changing
terrain of social research on the continent and in the wider
international system. The point should also be underscored that the
development of the research capacity interventions of the Council are
closely tied to the changing context of teaching and learning in
African universities. Programmes are developed to fill observed gaps,
strengthen new, interesting trends, and encourage innovation and
originality.
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