Apply now to join Matasa Fellows Network

This week the Matasa Fellows Network is launching a call for young African researchers to apply to become a fellow. Given the major role that the African private sector can play in tackling youth unemployment and underemployment, the chosen theme of this year’s fellowship is Youth Employment and Private Sector Growth in Africa. The Matasa Fellows Network is a joint initiative of the The Mastercard Foundation and Institute of Development Studies.

Launched in 2015, the Matasa Fellows network seeks to develop a cohort of young African researchers with the skills and commitment to engage in policy-oriented research around the challenges of young people and employment in Africa. Its aim is to contribute to the development of outstanding young researchers who will ultimately become established policy researchers in their chosen fields.

In 2016-17, the Matasa Fellows Network offered fellowships to 10 young African researchers. With coaching and facilitation from IDS, the Network enabled the researchers to bring a youth perspective into the analysis and discussion of their research, and to generate policy ideas. The initiative has led to the publication of ten peer-reviewed articles and policy briefs. 

Applications for the second round are open from the 8th November until the 7th November. The Matasa Fellows network is calling for young African researchers who either recently completed or are about to complete their PhDs in areas of social sciences to apply for the latest round of fellowships.  

Selected fellows will attend two review workshops and are expected to explore topics that include, for example: inclusive growth and decent jobs; the skills and talent that the private sector demands; how financial inclusion or advancement in digital technologies contribute to economic growth. They will also investigate different ways of getting research into use. 

The Network invites prospective fellows to address youth employment challenges from different disciplinary and multi-disciplinary angles, and mixed methods approaches – all leading to high quality policy relevant outputs. 

The Network will support each young researcher to produce a high quality research synthesis paper and policy brief. The papers will be disseminated via publication in a special issue of the IDS Bulletin. 

Applications are now open until 7 December 2017. Apply now to become a Matasa Fellow.  

Photo credit: Golden opportunities in Ethiopia | Simon Davis/Department for International Development CC BY 2.0