MoBreed (Mobility for Breeders in Africa) invites applications for the MSc and Academic / Administrative Staff exchange in Orphan Crops breeding open to student who must be a national and resident in any of the eligible countries covered by the Intra-Africa Mobility programme of the EACEA for 2018/2019 academic year
MoBreed (Mobility for Breeders in Africa) is an initiative of five public universities from three African regions and one university in Europe to advance knowledge on useful crops of Africa and increase scholars’ capacity in addressing food security. Partners include the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin and Ebonyi State University in Nigeria (West Africa), the Jimma University of Ethiopia (Eastern Africa), the University of Namibia and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa (Southern Africa) and Montpellier SupAgro in France.
MoBreed is funded by the Intra-Africa Program of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission. The consortium mainly intends to:
- produce 10 high profile plant breeders (PhD holders) that will address current and future challenges related to climate change and agriculture with focus on at least 10 promising underutilized plant species of Africa,
- train a new generation of 38 scientists (M.Sc. holders) and 6 academic staff with strong capacity to increase knowledge and prospects on the selected orphan crops used in Africa for food and nutrition security and the crop production and seed industry.
- harmonize seven MSc and six PhD training programmes and research agenda on the use of neglected and underutilized crops to increase the resilience of food production systems
MoBreed, as part of the curriculum and professional mobility of academic staff and students of Master and PhD levels in plant breeding and seed biotechnology, offers a new approach that frontally addresses the lack of human resources to advance knowledge on orphan crops, also known as underutilized species of Africa.
Worth of Award
The scholarship includes subsistence and settling-in allowances, participation costs, contribution to research costs, insurance and travel in line with Agreement with EACEA. It will cover:
- roundtrip flight ticket and visa costs (using a preferred travel agent and calculated against direct linear distance);
- direct participation costs such as tuition fees, registration fees and service fees where applicable;
- comprehensive travel insurance (Health, Accident and Travel)
- a monthly subsistence allowance for the mobility period.
Eligibility
To be eligible for a scholarship (i.e. financial support to third parties), master students as well as doctoral candidates referred to as ‘’students’’ must comply with the below criteria at the time of the application for a scholarship:
- be a national and resident in any of the eligible countries covered by the Intra-Africa Mobility programme of the EACEA
and
- be registered/admitted in or having obtained a HEI degree (or equivalent) from
- one of the HEIs included in the MoBreed consortium (Target group 1)
- a HEI not included in the Mobreed consortium but established in an eligible country (Target group 2)
and
- have sufficient knowledge of the language of the courses in the host countries.