ILRI-DAAD PhD Scholarship Improved vaccines for the control of East Coast fever in cattle in Africa

Job Description

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works to enhance the roles livestock play in pathways out of poverty in developing countries. ILRI is a member of the CGIAR Consortium, a global research partnership of 15 centres working with many partners for a food-secure future. ILRI has two main campuses in East Africa and other hubs in East, West and southern Africa and South, Southeast and East Asia. www.ilri.org. CGIAR is a global agricultural research partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by 15 research centres that are members of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. www.cgiar.org.

DAAD is a German Academic Exchange service which is a publicly funded, self-governing organization of the institutions of higher education in Germany. DAAD promotes international academic exchange as well as educational co-operation with developing countries through a variety of funding and scholarship programs.

ILRI Research Project:  Improved vaccines for the control of East Coast fever in cattle in Africa (BecA – ILRI Hub)

The Vaccine Biosciences group, hosted by the ILRI Animal Health theme, focuses on African Swine fever (ASF), contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) and East Coast fever (ECF) The outputs include new or improved vaccines, diagnostic assays and biosecurity protocols that aim to increase livestock productivity in the targeted value chains in particular and to control the spread of the diseases in general.

Graduate Fellowship Project Title:  Epidemiological investigation of the presence of Theileria parva in the cattle and ticks in Cameroon and evaluation of a combined anti-sporozoite and anti-schizont vaccine against ECF.

The position:

This PhD project aims at improving the subunit vaccine through new vaccine formulation and delivery as well as new combination of antigens targeting both the sporozoite and schizont stages of the infection (combination that has never been done). In addition, data on the status of Theileria in Cameroon is lacking and the proposed investigation of its presence will inform control and preventive measures.

 Responsibilities:

Improvement of the subunit vaccine against ECF.

• Collection of cattle blood samples and ticks.
• Identification of collected ticks vectors.
• Identification of tick borne haemoparasites by Reverse Line Blot (RLB) hybridization assay.
• Characterization of T parva stocks using Microsatellite /Minisatellites.

Essential Skills and Qualifications will include:

• MSc Molecular biology, Zoology, Biochemistry and related fields in Biology.

Terms of appointment: ILRI will offer a competitive stipend to cover living expenses in the project location(s). The successful candidate will be supervised jointly by an ILRI scientist and the university/academic supervisor.

How to apply:

Interested applicants should submit the following documents;

• A cover letter explaining your interest in the position, what you can bring to the job and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about your professional qualifications and work experience.  The position title and reference number: PHDJB/DAAD/05/2015 should be clearly indicated in the subject line of the cover letter.

• Curriculum Vitae without photograph; please use the europass CV template athttp://europass.cedefop.europa.eu.
• Certified copies of all university degree certificates.
• Certified copies of all university transcripts.
• At least temporary University admission letter including fee structure of respective course (original or certified copy only), or an official letter assuring admission. If this is not available by the closing date for application; please include with the application a commitment letter that you will have obtained this by 1st September 2015 as this is a mandatory requirement before commencing the fellowship program.
• Ph.D. research proposal and a detailed work plan (10 to 15 pages); plagiarism will be checked!                          The proposal has to be in line with the above outlined ILRI’s research project.
• Abstract of the proposal on one page (please include name and title of proposal).
• Where applicable a recommendation letter by head of department indicating that you are a present or prospective member of staff and how you will be integrated into the staff development agenda of the university (original only).
• Confirmation of study leave from your university (if applicable).
• Confirmation of teaching release (university staff members only)

Applications: All applications to be submitted online on our recruitment portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com by the deadline of 10th June 2015.

To find out more about ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org

To find out more about working at ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org/ilricrowd/

The scholarships are only awarded to citizens of Sub-Saharan African countries (SSA)

Suitably qualified women and citizens of developing countries, with experience of working internationally, are particularly encouraged to apply.