(ARRF) Sabbatical Research Opportunities

The African Research and Resource Forum (ARRF) is a research, data resource, reflection and discourse organization devoted to the enhancement of thinking on African governance and development. ARRF is a nonpartisan, non-governmental, non-profit regional forum for scholars, researchers, opinion leaders and individuals to interact and share ideas.

Its core activities are research, debate, analysis, publication and dissemination of research findings. ARRF links scholars, researchers, opinion leaders and public service functionaries to interact and share ideas.

The Forum also facilitates capacity building for institutions and individuals, supports policy advocacy and provides consultancy and advisory services intended to encourage a culture of utilizing research findings for development initiatives.

ARRF invites applications for Two (2) Sabbatical Research Fellowships running from October to December 2011, supported by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF).

The Fellowships are three (3) months each and will involve desk analysis, library research and very limited filed work.

Research activities will focus on the two themes below:

Researchable areas

i) Natural Resource Management

This sabbatical program aims at providing an opportunity to a researcher interested in generating substantive findings to tackle the challenges in the sustainable management of national resources in any of the EAC partner states.

The study will discern necessary conditions of sectoral and national governance under which natural resources exploration and exploitation could lead to economic growth, poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Researchers will be required to state their specific countries of interest and the natural resource in question.

The researcher’s report should also offer policy suggestions on how these desirable conditions can be realized.

ii) The Potential Implications of the entry of the new Republic of South Sudan into the EAC (For South Sudan and other EAC Member States)

Research in this area aims at addressing the potential costs and benefits (and the overall development effect) of the entry of the new state of South Sudan into the East African Community (EAC) bloc, should it occur.

Research will also consider the challenges posed by the wide disparities in development between South Sudan and the EAC member states and how this situation may affect or determine integration policy choices, both for South Sudan and the regional bloc.

As in the first sabbatical above, this sabbatical should also provide some suggestions for the resolution of the policy dilemmas in these areas.

Eligibility

The sabbaticals are open to researchers from policy research institutes and academic institutions from the East African Community (EAC) and Southern Sudan (for the second theme).

Candidates should be:

• Holders of a PhD degree in a relevant field. Those with Masters Degrees and more than 5 years research experience in relevant areas will also be considered.
• Have significant academic and research experience related to the proposed field of study of not less than four (4) years.

Your application should contain:

1. Application letter;
2. Detailed Curriculum Vitae;
3. Photocopies of academic certificates;
4. Two letters of reference to be sent directly to ARRF, preferably from current and/or past research/work supervisors;
5. Research proposal in one of the research topics;
6. A letter from employer supporting a candidates leave of absence while on sabbatical

Applications should be submitted electronically or by post and addressed to:

The Chief Executive Officer
African Research and Resource Forum (ARRF)
Mt. View Estate, Off Waiyaki Way
P. O. Box 57103-00800 Nairobi, Kenya
Email: admin@arrforum.org

Application deadline is September 25, 2011.