2025 African Faculty Fellows
- Organization
- The Michigan Institute for Data and AI in Society (MIDAS)
- Location
- Ann Arbor, MI
- Job Type
- Full-time
- Deadline for Applications
- 10/31/2024
- How to Apply
- https://midas.umich.edu/african-faculty-fellows/african-faculty-apply/
- Where to Apply
- https://midas.umich.edu/african-faculty-fellows/african-faculty-apply/
- Tags
- Fellowships
Scientific Scope
We seek AF Fellows who will apply AI methodology to address significant research questions in science and engineering. AI is defined broadly to include machine learning, robotics, Bayesian inference, and simulation. Science and engineering includes mathematical sciences, physical sciences, earth and environmental sciences, and engineering, as well as biological and biomedical science research that uses AI methods to understand basic biological processes, disease mechanisms, and propagation (in silico, in vitro and animal models). However, biomedical or healthcare research with a focus on developing or improving disease preventions, cures or treatments is out of scope. All other disciplines are out of scope. See FAQ for additional explanations.
Program Structure
Each AF Fellow will be in our program for two years, with one year in residence in Ann Arbor, starting in summer 2025. Each Faculty Fellow will receive an annual stipend of $35,000 and medical insurance for their residence at U-M. In addition, the program will provide housing, and cover visa fees and travel costs between U-M and Africa. Each AF Fellow will also receive funding to cover computer and software licenses, travel to research conferences, fees to attend training workshops, and publication of research papers. Upon their return to Africa, each AF Fellow will receive a pilot grant award of $50,000 to carry out their training, research, and impact plan.
Each AF Fellow will have a U-M faculty member as the Host. Hosts must be U-M tenure-track faculty, research scientists, or research faculty. These and the program leadership will form an individualized Fellowship Committee for each AF Fellows. The program will provide $40,000 to each faculty Host to to carry out one joint research project with the AF Fellow while they are in residence at U-M. (These funds may be used to cover Host faculty salary, effort for collaborating students, and/or other costs for the project, in accordance with a budget that must be negotiated and approved prior to funds transfer). All AF Fellows and their Hosts will form a close-knit community together with their collaborators, our postdoctoral fellows, and faculty mentors, as well as the program team, through collaborative learning activities and research collaborations. AF Fellows will work on the U-M campus. They will have space at MIDAS’s postdoctoral program office space and within the research groups of their Hosts.
The program will provide opportunities for AI in science training to the AF Fellows, including summer academies for data science and AI methodologies, AI bootcamps, and collaborative learning sessions. Some program funds are available for additional AI and professional training opportunities at U-M, with our partnering organizations, or elsewhere.
