ILRI-DAAD PhD Scholarship Food Safety and Zoonosis – African Bioservices project – Kenya

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:  African Bioservices project

African Bioservices project will implement an empirical study in the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem to demonstrate how drivers of change – including climate, land use and demographic changes  influence key elements of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The project also plans to link the changes in the types of ecosystem services with socio-economic impacts using sustainable livelihoods framework.

Graduate Fellowship Project Title:  Effects of the changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services on human health and wellbeing in the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, southwest Kenya

The position:

The African Bioservices project has a very limited focus on infectious diseases and this PhD position will allow contribute to the development of a tool that links trade-offs in ecosystem services with occurrence and transmission of selected zoonotic diseases (including brucellosis, leptospirosis, and trypanosomosis), using methods that have been developed under the Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa: livestock/wildlife, human health and wellbeing project. This position will add value to the project’s (AfricanBioservices) activities and it will also contribute to Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) program’s System Level Outcomes on ImprovedNatural Resource Systems and Ecosystem Services.

Responsibilities:

• Manage field surveys including collection of secondary and primary data on the target zoonotic diseases in people and livestock.
• Conduct spatial analyses on the distribution of diseases in the study area.
• Correlate the changes in ecosystem services quantified by the project team with spatial distribution of the diseases being studied.

Essential Skills and Qualifications will include:

• MSc in epidemiology, geography, public health.

• Minimum of two years’ research experience with a good number of scientific publications, technical reports and/or conference presentations.
• Excellent quantitative skills including application of GIS techniques in infectious disease epidemiology.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

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: PHDBB/DAAD/05/2015should 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

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