Deadline: 30/04/2022.
University of Dodoma (UDOM) | Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) MSc & PhD Scholarship 2022 for Anglophone African countries
Scholarships – The University of Dodoma (UDOM) and the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) are currently implementing a project to establish an AI4D Africa’s Anglophone Multidisciplinary Research Lab. The project is funded by an International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) through the AI4D Africa Program. One of the objectives of the project is to strengthen Al research and teaching capacity of new researchers across Anglophone Africa through mentorship, exploratory research, and community building.
In light of that, the project seeks to offer scholarships for MSc and PhD candidates interested to conduct Al research in Healthcare; Infrastructure and Data Ecosystem; Digital Economy and Small-Scale Industries; and Environment Conservation and Agriculture. It is envisaged that the scholarships will promote inclusion of gender and marginalised groups in Al research and innovation, application of Al-based solutions in addressing pressing social challenges, increased accessibility to public research data, increased and strengthened partnerships and collaborations.
Project Priority Areas of Research
The successful candidates will work closely with the project team members in formulating Al research ideas that fall in one of the four thematic areas. The distribution of the scholarship positions per thematic area is as outlined in the following table:
Thematic Area Scholarship Type Number of Scholarship
- Healthcare: Partial 1 MSc and 1 PhD
- Environmental Conservation and Agriculture: Partial 1 MSc and 1 PhD
- Infrastructure and Data Ecosystem: Partial 1 MSc
- Digital Economy and Small-Scale Industries: Full 1 MSc
Scholarship Benefits
Successful PhD candidates will receive a partial scholarship for two years that cater for books and stationaries, and research expenses (publication charges, field data collection, dissertation production). The full MSc scholarship will be awarded for two years and will cover the costs for tuition fees, books and stationaries, accommodation, registration fees, monthly stipend, and research fund (publication charges, field data collection, dissertation production). Whereas, a partial MSc scholarship will be awarded for one year and will only cater for books and stationaries, and research funds.
Eligibility for the University of Dodoma (UDOM) | Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) MSc & PhD Scholarship 2022
To be eligible for the MSc or PhD scholarship, an applicant must consider the following:
- Holds a relevant Bachelor degree for MSc applicants and MSc degree for PhD applicants in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (Al), Machine Learning (ML), Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Agriculture Informatics, Bioinformatics, or any other ICT related specialisation from an accredited university or similar higher learning institution with a minimum GPA of 3.8/5.0 for MSc applicant and GPA of 4.0/5.0 for PhD applicant or its equivalent and at least an average of “B+” in the relevant subjects of specialisation.
- Meets the specific admission requirements of the NM-AIST under the school of Computational and Communication Science and Engineering (CoCSE) or the University of Dodoma under the College of Informatics and Virtual Education (CIVE) with proof of an admission letter (full-time).
- Demonstrates that her/his research interest is well aligned to the project objectives and thematic areas with a proof of a concept note that do not exceed two pages.
- Should have an interest in multidisciplinary and practical hands-on research.
- Should have the motivation to seek extra funding and grants through the lab.
- Having a publication (s) in an international peer-reviewed journal or conference is an added advantage.
- Should not exceed 40 years of age for PhD applicants and 30 years of age for MSc applicants.
- Should be a citizen of an Anglophone African country.
- Female and disadvantaged applicants are encouraged to apply.
Desirable Qualifications for the University of Dodoma (UDOM) | Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) MSc & PhD Scholarship 2022
An applicant should have knowledge and experience in the following areas:
- Programming languages: Python, Java, C/C++, JavaScript, R, etc.
- Machine learning engineering: creating training pipelines and evaluating models using toolkits such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras, Fastai and Scikit-learn.
- Cloud-native development and toolkits such as Docker, Kubernetes, and OpenShift.
- Software engineering best practices, including agile techniques.
- Experience in solving analytical problems using rigorous and quantitative approaches.
PhD applicant is expected to have additional experience on the following:
- Machine learning theory: discriminative models, generative models, deep neural networks, detecting and mitigating bias, adversarial robustness, causality, and uncertainty.
- Qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and user-centric design.
- Experimental research design.
- (Analysing large scale data from a variety of sources.
- Experience in federated learning.
Mode of Application and Deadline
The application package MUST be named with an applicant’s FULL NAME and submitted by email to [email protected] before 30/04/2022.
The application package shall contain the following documents:
- Admission letter from either UDOM or NM-AIST.
- Research concept note (maximum of 2 pages)
- Published paper (s) in the relevant area of study.
- University degree transcripts.
- 1-page motivation letter.
- 3-page up-to-date curriculum vitae.
Contacts
For any inquiries kindly contact the following:
- Dr. Mohamedi Mjahidi The University of Dodoma Mobile: +255 778 975 083 Email: [email protected]
- Dr. Devotha Nyambo The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology Mobile: +255 752 905 156 Email: [email protected]
