Call to African Universities

INDEPTH Scientific Development and Leadership Programme

Call for Applications from African Academic Institutions todevelop a Master’s Course in Field Epidemiology

The INDEPTH-Network <www.indepth-network.org> is an international network of field sites in Africa and Asia with continuous demographic evaluation of populations and their health in developing countries. The demographic surveillance system (DSS) sites generate high quality, population-based, health and demographic data on longitudinal basis, and constitute a critical resource of valid, population-based information in much of the developing world. INDEPTH harnesses the collective potential of these initiatives to provide a better empirical understanding of health and social issues and to apply this understanding to alleviate the most severe health and social challenges.

In line with the objectives of INDEPTH’s Scientific Development and Leadership programme <www.indepth-network.net/leadership.htm>, the INDEPTH network is looking for an African University to partner it in the development and implementation of a Master’s course in Population-based Field Epidemiology and, over the longer term, to extend the programme to a distance learning module.

Master’s Programme

The programme should provide multi-disciplinary field-based and problem-oriented research training that combines (1)epidemiology and research methodology, (2)biostatistics and data management, (3)demography and other social sciences with a thorough understanding of relevant new and emerging (4)information technologies, with a focus on demographic and health surveillance in developing countries. Graduates would be expected to be able to identify key biomedical and public health problems that may be addressed by epidemiological or demographic studies and design solutions to those problems; have the appropriate analytical skills and can understand, plan and execute field-based scientific research; and have good communication skills to make research results understandable to diverse audiences. The Master’s degree programme should include core courses in the above four priority areas, electives related to field work, field work in an INDEPTH site, and a thesis/research paper. The goal of this master’s programme is to develop a genre of African Scientists with a demonstrable skill in applied research. Graduates of the programme who show exceptional promise will be identified for further training (PhD).

Distance Learning Course

In recent years several universities in the developed countries have invested substantially in the development of distance-learning courses on the principles and practice of epidemiology at the Diploma and Master’s level, on a full-time and part-time basis. Many of the study modules developed for these course would be relevant to the proposed INDEPTH course but additional modules would be required on, for example, demographic and social science topics relevant to demographic surveillance and field research.  INDEPTH and its partners will work with the successful candidate over a 3-5 year period to:

1. adapt existing study modules to suit the objectives of the new course
2. collaborate in the development of new modules
3. transfer the knowledge and skills necessary for the running of distance-based learning on courses and the development of new courses to the selected African University

As part of the development process, the partners and the African University, in collaboration with those experienced in management training and development would produce new distance-based modules on leadership training. These might be taken either as stand-alone modules or as an integral part of the Master’s course.

Selection Process

INDEPTH, in cooperation with the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (WHO/TDR) <www.who.int/tdr> will advertise the concept to African universities, especially in those countries where INDEPTH has member sites. Proposals will be requested from appropriate faculties to establish a graduate programme that is tailored to suit the INDEPTH Scientific Development and Leadership Programme. One University in Africa will be initially selected to start the programme. The successful candidate will be selected by INDEPTH and subscribing organizations through a transparent process

Grant Support

The grant would cover an initial period of three years and provide up to US$100,000 seed money annually to the participating university. It is expected the participating university will be able to attract additional funding for the programme after the 3 year period.  For the first three years, 5-10 scholarships will be offered annually by INDEPTH and its partners.

Application

Applications should be submitted with the following documentation:

1. A letter from the authority responsible for approving academic programmes indicating their interest in developing such a programme.
2. An institutional profile that includes structure, courses available, degrees offered and academic staff.
3. Details of the proposed Master’s programme.
4. Available facilities and capabilities related to the proposed course.
5. Curriculum Vitae of staff directly involved in the proposed programme or post-description of staff to be recruited.
6. Timetable.
7. Budget.

All applications must be received by 2nd May 2003 at the following address: 

INDEPTH Network

9 Adenkum Loop, Kanda

P O Box 213

Kanda, Accra, Ghana

Email: indepth@indepth-network.org

(We encourage applicants to submit applications by email)