MAINSTREAM Second mobility call-2025/2026

Call for short-term mobility scholarship applications for PhD, Masters, and internship placement in the framework of the Intra Africa MAINSTREAM Project

MAINSTREAM Project:

Mobility 4 Agricultural International Networks Supporting Thematic Resilience and Enhancing Adaptation and Mitigation

Background:

MAINSTREAM strives to influence a common agenda for addressing education and skills improvement for the agricultural knowledge systems (focusing on climate change resilience) both at regional and country levels targeting transformations with the:

1. Tertiary agricultural education community (networking, South-South exchanges, leadership and entrepreneurship programmes, etc.);
2. Policy and industry actors

The project provides pathways for institutional modernization and internationalisation reforms, leveraging the consortia existing partnership on agriculture education and skills with other public and private organisations involved across the continent to drive innovative solutions and value addition in interdisciplinary agricultural programmes at master and doctoral levels and further inspire their inclusive implementation. The inclusion aspect shall particularly be seen with the African women population (often with intersectional vulnerability) who are underrepresented in HE agricultural programmes, even though they make up half of the farm labour force. Mobility scheme shall also be used to break cross-African gendered perceptions of agriculture that underestimate women and girls´ participation and to further provide for a gender-sensitive learning environment and institutional culture as well as for addressing infrastructure, support services and safety. MAINSTREAM aims to provide credible and standing solutions defying low academic and mobility of workforce across Africa, increasing the focus on applied research in climate-sensitive Agricultural Education and Training, addressing limited appeal and participation of vulnerable and underrepresented groups, including youth and women, in agricultural learning systems, and promoting a set of supportive cross-regional measures for policy considerations. Thus, the project facilitates agricultural programmes graduates to access meaningful community development engagements across the continent.

Participating Institutions:

1. Mountains of the Moon University (MMU), Uganda
2. Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST), Kenya
3. Université de Kara (UK), Togo,
4. Université du Sine Saloum El-Hadj Ibrahima Niass (USSEIN), Senegal,  
5. University of the Free State (UFS), South Africa
6. Arsi University, (ASU), Ethiopia

• Hochschule Weihenstephan-Triesdorf (HWST), Germany

Mobility Groups:

The Mobility of the scholarship is categorized into two groups- Target groups I and II

1. Target Group 1: Applicants in this category should be registered/admitted in or  have obtained a degree (or equivalent) from one of the African Beneficiaries included in the MAINSTREAM Project, (i.e. Mountains of the Moon University (MMU, Uganda), Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST, Kenya), Universite De Kara (UK, Togo), Universite Du Sine Saloum El-Hadj Ibrahima Niass (USSEIN, Senegal), University of the Free State (UFS, South Africa) and Arsi University, (ASU, Ethiopia)
2. Target Group 2: Applicants in this category include students registered/admitted in /         or who have obtained a degree (or equivalent) from any other university in Africa besides the above-mentioned institutions.  

 Mobility Level: 

1. Masters or Doctoral level mobility:

Master students will receive a scholarship for a maximum period of six months in order to do research for their master theses or attend courses relevant to their study. The project will support a total of 70 Master´s students during the course of its implementation.

PhD candidates will receive a scholarship for a maximum period of twelve months to do research for their dissertation or attend courses relevant to their study programme. The project will support a total of 30 PhD students during the course of its implementation.

Please note that this mobility scholarship is a short-term opportunity to either attend some courses relevant to the students’ overall programme or conduct research that contributes to the overall attainment of the degree. It is NOT a scholarship for a full Master/PhD programme.

• Traineeship mobility: 14 trainees’ opportunity for up to 3 months duration abroad attached to industry partners/farms. To qualify, you must be enrolled in a Bachelor/Master/PhD programme at one of the partner institutions in the MAINSTREAM consortium.

Mobility Flow:

The Mobility Flow explains the partnering universities that various groups of applicants can apply to.  Applicants registered/admitted in or have obtained a degree (or equivalent) from one of the partnering universities cannot apply to the same university or country.

A.    Target Group I Applicants 

The scholarship only supports Bachelor’s students (for Internship placement only), Masters students (for credit seeking, research mobility or Internship) and PhD students (for credit seeking, research mobility or Internship) who move from a project partner institution from one country to an institution within the consortium in a different country. Internship placement is only for Target group 1 students.

Table 1 highlights Eligible Institutions for Target group I

*Please Note that the scholarship only supports students who move from an institution from one country to an institution within the consortium partners in a different country. Therefore, there must be mobility across different countries.

Key: ✔ means mobility is supported   ✗ means mobility is not supported

B.     Target Group II Applicants

Students who are registered, admitted to, or have obtained a degree (or equivalent) from any other university in Africa outside the consortium partner countries are classified as Target group II students. The following mobility is supported under the target group II mobility.

• Masters’ students in this category can apply for either credit seeking or research mobility in the partner universities outside their own country.

• PhD students in this category can apply for either credit seeking or research mobility in the partner universities outside their own country.
• Please note that target group II students cannot be supported for Internship placement

Table 2: Study Programs from partner institutions supported by the project

Scholarship Benefits:

1. Participation costs (tuition and registration fees)
2. Medical Insurance for the duration of the stay at the host university
3. Monthly subsistence allowance (€890 for Master’s students, €1,230 for PhD students and €1,230 for trainees/interns)
4. Additional support for scholarship holders with disabilities to participate in the mobility will be provided
5. Modest Research support as agreed between the research supervisors and the coordinator at the host institution

Please note that the scholarship holder will have to pay for his/her own Visa, flight tickets and accommodation while at the host institution

Eligibility:

• Interested candidates can only apply to approved specified programs in the appropriate university as indicated in the mobility flow.
• Applicants should ensure that they meet the admission requirements for the program/university in the mobility flow.

Application Documents:

1. A Completed online Application Form
2. Detailed curriculum vitae providing information on academic background, and work experiences related to their programme of choice (refer to supported programmes in the table above)
3. A one-page concept document of planned academic activities
4. A copy of a national passport bio page
5. Scanned degree certificates
6. A motivation letter including how the mobility scholarship relates to their current study program or research (max 500 words)

• Eligible candidates should not have already benefited from another MOBAF 2022- 2027 (Intra-Africa Mobility) scholarship.

How to Apply for the Scholarship:

To apply: 

Application Deadline: The deadline for the application is 17^th October 2025 by Midnight GMT +1. Results will be announced by the end of December 2025

*Women and persons living with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply

Contact Details

For further enquiries or guidance on the scholarship call, kindly contact the following persons

For general inquiries about the MAINSTREAM project, please visit the project website at https://mainstreamafrica.org/  or contact the project coordinator, Assoc. Prof. Violet Kisakye at kviolet@mmu.ac.ug

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