Fellowship Programs

Research activities in renewable energies (RE) were in the past concentrated in very few African institutions. Since the creation of ANSOLE more and more African institutions are getting involved in RE research, as a result of good information flow within the network and the raising of awareness about RE, which has led to reorientation of main research activities of ANSOLE members in favor of RE research.
Due to lack of finances, most educational programs on RE offered by African institutions are strongly theoretical and less practical. ANSOLE advocates Africa-wide training and education programs in RE on a balanced theoretical and practical basis. This is possible through interactions with experienced laboratories within Africa itself and in the North, which enable an equitable acquisition and transfer of both theoretical and experimental knowledge.

With the help of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), ANSOLE has put in place a series of fellowship programs to support this endeavor.

ANSOLE "Sur-Place" Fellowship Programs (ANSUP)

ANSUP fellowship ("on the spot" grant) is offered to selected undergraduate students (as from 2nd year) if their prospective bachelor thesis is RE-based. Selected Masters and PhD students studying at institutions with strong focus on RE and having adequate experimental facilities can also benefit from ANSUP fellowship.

The monthly amount for each ANSUP grant is as follow:

• ANSUP undergraduate: €50-150
• ANSUP Masters: €100-250
• ANSUP PhD: €250-300 (€350-500 for South Africa)

The exact amount will be fixed for each case based on the location of the applicant and general standard of living at that location. Following items are required for ANSUP fellowship:

• A detailed CV including passport size picture.


• A letter of motivation.


• Two recommendation letters (one from local supervisor).


• University certificates and/or transcripts.


• Filled "ICTP-ANSOLE Fellowship Application Form" which is downloadable here.


• Proof of ANSOLE membership.

ANSOLE Students Exchange Fellowship Programs

Two types of exchange programs exist:

• Africa-North Exchange-Program (ANEX-Program).


• Intra-African Exchange-Program (INEX-Program).

The ANEX program is a knowledge acquisition (knowledge transfer) program geared at training African students and researchers in experienced and well-equipped research laboratories in the North.

The INEX program whose primary aim is to strengthen intra-African research activities, offers the possibility to conduct joint Masters or joint Ph.D programs among African institutions. Within the INEX program exists a special program called "OVERcome the HEAt of the Desert" program or OVERHEAD-Program. This special program, which will be strongly favored, is geared at bridging research activities between Sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa.

A student within the ANSUP or INEX programs can use the ANEX program to visit a European lab.

Only ANSOLE members are eligible to partake to the exchange programs. The financing of exchange program is preceded by a preselection conducted by a scientific committee.

The monthly amount for each exchange program is as follow:

• INEX student: €300-350 (€450-600 for South Africa) +return-ticket+one time starting support of €250-350.


• ANEX student: €800-1000 +return-ticket.

The following items are required for the exchange fellowships:

• A detailed CV including passport size picture.


• A letter of Motivation.


• A proposal of maximum 3 pages clearly outlining the aim of the visit to a specific host laboratory (type of training, research goals etc..).


• University certificates and transcripts.


• Two recommendation letters (one from the local supervisor).


• An acceptance letter from the host supervisor.


• Filled "ICTP-ANSOLE Fellowship Application Form" which is downloadable here.


• Proof of ANSOLE membership.

Applicants documents are submitted online to fellowship(at)ansole.org (cc: daniel.egbe(at)ansole.org), which will be automatically forwarded to the selection committee. The hardcopy (2x) is sent to the ANSOLE coordinator, PD Dr. Daniel Ayuk Mbi Egbe, Institute of Polymeric Materials and Testing (IPMT), Altenbergerstr.69, A-4040 Linz, Austria.

Candidates will be selected on the basis of:

• The assessment of the provided documents


• The research topic.


• The country and African region of origin.


• The existing funding sum (ICTP presently allocates €18,000 per annum)