USAID 2024 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Fellows Program for Master

Eligibility Criteria

Applications are accepted from faculty members at universities in:

Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Jordan, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia

All team members must be based full-time at the home university. Applications must be from teams comprised of two members from the same university who teach and/or conduct research in demography, public health, economics, sociology, or other social sciences. Note this is a change from previous years where teams were comprised of three members.

Individuals who have already participated in a data analysis workshop conducted by The DHS Program are not eligible, although individuals who have only participated in a Service Provision Assessment (SPA) or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) workshop facilitated by The DHS Program are still eligible to apply. Teams must include one senior faculty member. Both team members must be available to attend two in-person workshops organized by The DHS Program (see anticipated timeline below). In addition, all participants must complete the DHS Dataset User course online before attending the first workshop. This course will take approximately 1-2 days to complete depending on skill level. The most recent statistical software package Stata will be provided for use during the training.

Offered Benefits

Selection of Fellows will be primarily based on the merits of their research proposal and on the applicants' potential for strengthening the capacity of their home university to use DHS Program data. Additional factors considered will be gender balance and previous experience in data use and statistical analysis.

Each fellow will be awarded a $3,000 honorarium to cover research expenses, travel expenses, and other incidentals which will be paid in installments based upon satisfactory completion of the deliverables. Non-participation in trainings or incomplete submissions will be deducted from this payment. The DHS Program will cover economy airfare from the home institution, lodging with breakfast and lunch only, for each fellow to attend both workshops. Each fellow will be responsible for obtaining a visa to the country where the workshop will be determined after the selection process and all other costs is expected to be covered by the honorarium.

Application Process

Each team should submit a single application that contains the following items in pdf format:

1. A completed team application form  

2. A brief, original research proposal (3 to 4 pages) with the following sections clearly described 1) introduction and rationale, 2) short literature review and/or conceptual framework on the topic, 3) research question(s), 4) scope of analysis (including how DHS Program data will be used to answer the research questions), and 5) potential policy implications. Use of other data for the analysis will result in rejection of the proposal. We recommend you visit the DHS Program website to find the Final report for the most recent DHS survey in your country. Please check the final report to understand what data is available to answer your research question.

3. A brief plan for internal capacity strengthening (1 to 2 pages) that describes realistic activities the applicants will undertake at home universities during the fellowship. These activities should enable fellows to pass on knowledge and skills learned through the program to students, faculty, and research colleagues at their home universities. Brief descriptions of each proposed activity should include a summary of the objective, target group, timing, measurement of progress, and outcomes. Two capacity building activities are required, the first should be implemented between March 10 and April 8, 2024, and the second between May 15 and August 5, 2024, to meet the deadlines detailed in the timeline.

4. In addition, the joint application should include the following from each team member:

a) A curriculum vita with complete contact information, a list of publications, and names and contact information for three references

b) Proof of status as a current faculty member at home university and duration of employment

If selected, each candidate will be asked to provide evidence, such as a letter of approval from their department/university agrees to her/his participation in the fellowship program, including full-time participation in both workshops.