NEST Project Invites Applications for 2025 Master's and PhD Scholarship Programme
January 01, 2025 | News Feed | Reading time: 5 min
The NCD and Environmental Research Strengthening Training (NEST) Programme is now accepting applications from suitably qualified individuals for postgraduate (Master's and PhD) scholarship. This programme aims to provide mentored research opportunities and practical, policy-relevant community-based training for four qualified individuals in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Epidemiological Research with a focus on Environmental Health Sciences.
This scholarship will provide support for university fees and analytic and fieldwork-related expenses for up to four years (2025 - 2029) for PhD students and one year (2024/2025 academic year) for master's students. For students who have already incurred these costs, reimbursements will be available. Successful candidates will have access to valuable resources, including detailed data on children and adults at Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC), as well as specialized research tools.
About the NEST Project
The NEST Programme (https://kintampo-hrc.org/nest/) is a collaboration between the Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC), the University of Ghana School of Public Health, Columbia University (CU, USA), and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS, USA). This five-year programme, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), aims to train Ghanaian researchers to produce evidence on how the environment affects our health and the risks of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), to inform public health policy and improve the overall health of individuals.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must meet the following requirements:
1. Be a first year Master's student or first/second-year PhD student in a recognized university in Ghana or in a second year of a clinical fellowship.
2. Demonstrated interest
and aptitude for NCD and environmental research assessed through motivation letter.
3. Expressed commitment from an academic supervisor at the enrolled university or college.
4. Familiarity with 1 or More Statistical and
Data Science Programming Languages (e.g., R and/or Python).
5. Ability to independently conduct statistical analysis of data under supervision.
6. Willingness to work in a multidisciplinary team.
Interested applicants should visit (http://ksurvey.org:3901/) for more information and application.
Successful candidates will be required to accomplish the following tasks during the scholarship period:
1. Complete and submit at least one first-author manuscript based on data sets derived from the NEST project.
2. Actively contribute to other NEST project manuscripts throughout the project's duration.
3. Deliver a presentation
at a local or international conference within six months of final thesis submission for master's students and by the end of the award year three for PhD students.
4. Write a reflective essay (1,000 - 1,500 words) detailing
the learning experience from the NEST project, to be completed within six months of final thesis submission for master’s students and by the end of the award year three for PhD students.
This is a unique opportunity for passionate students to gain hands-on experience and contribute to impactful NCD and environmental health research. Applications open on January 1, 2025, and close on January 31, 2025, with award notifications set for February 28, 2025.
