CALL FOR APPLICATIONS IVAN KARP DOCTORAL RESEARCH AWARDS FOR AFRICAN STUDENTS ENROLLED IN SOUTH AFRICAN Ph.D. PROGRAMMES Closing Date: Thursday 1 May 2025
The African Critical Inquiry Programme is pleased to announce the 2025 Ivan
Karp Doctoral Research Awards to support African doctoral students in the
humanities and humanistic social sciences who are enrolled at South African
universities and conducting dissertation research on relevant topics. Grant amounts
vary depending on research plans, with a maximum award of ZAR 50,000.
The African Critical Inquiry Programme (ACIP) seeks to advance inquiry and
debate about the roles and practice of public culture, public cultural institutions, and
public scholarship in shaping identities and society in Africa. The ACIP is committed
to collaboration between scholars and the makers of culture/history, and to fostering
inquiry into the politics of knowledge production, the relationships between the
colonial/apartheid and the postcolonial/postapartheid, and the importance of critical
pluralism as against nationalist discourse. ACIP is a partnership between the Centre
for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape and the Laney
Graduate School of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia (USA).
ELIGIBILITY: The Ivan Karp Doctoral Research Awards are open to African
postgraduate students (regardless of citizenship) in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Applicants must be currently registered in a Ph.D. programme in a
South African university and be working on topics related to ACIP’s focus. Awards
will support doctoral research projects focused on topics such as institutions of public
culture, particular aspects of museums and exhibitions, forms and practices of public
scholarship, culture and communication, and the theories, histories, and systems of
thought that shape and illuminate public culture and public scholarship. Applicants
must submit a dissertation proposal that has been approved by their institution to
confirm the award; this must be completed before they begin ACIP-supported on-site
research or by December 2025, whichever comes first.
APPLICATION PROCESS: Awards are open to proposals working with a
range of methodologies in the humanities and humanistic social sciences, including
research in archives and collections, fieldwork, interviews, surveys, and quantitative
data collection. Applicants are expected to write in clear, intelligible prose for a
selection committee that is multi-disciplinary and cross-regional. Proposals should
show thorough knowledge of the major concepts, theories, and methods in the
applicant’s discipline and in other related fields and include a bibliography relevant to
the research. Applicants should specify why an extended period of on-site research
is essential to successfully complete the proposed doctoral dissertation. Applicants
are urged to consult the guidance and advice on how to write a good proposal and
prepare a well-crafted budget found in the Resources section of the ACIP website
(http://www.graduateschool.emory.edu/about/special/acip.html) or here:
http://www.ssrc.org/publications/view/the-art-of-writing-proposals/.
To apply, eligible applicants should submit the following as a single file
attachment with documents in the order listed:
‚ completed cover sheet (form below and online at the end of application
information at http://www.graduateschool.emory.edu/about/special/acip.html,
under ACIP Opportunities)
‚ abstract of the proposed research project (250 words maximum)
‚ research proposal outlining the project’s goals, central questions, significance,
and relevance for ACIP’s central concerns. Proposals should include a clearly
formulated, realistic research design and plan of work responsive to the
project’s theoretical and methodological concerns. Applicants should provide
evidence of appropriate training to undertake the proposed research,
including the language fluency necessary for the project. Proposals should be
no longer than 1800 words; they should be double spaced, with 2.5 cm
margins and a font no smaller than 11 point. Applications that do not follow
these format guidelines will not be considered.
A bibliography of up to two additional pages, project budget listing project expenses to be supported by the award. Your
budget should justify both items listed and amounts requested (i.e. indicate
what the amounts are based on)
‚ your curriculum vitae
‚ current academic transcript and proof of registration at your current institution
‚ two referee letters; one of these must be from your supervisor. Your referees
should comment specifically on your proposed project, its quality and
significance, and your qualifications for undertaking it. They should also
evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your project and how you and your
work would benefit from receiving the research award. Referee letters should
be submitted directly to the Selection Committee.
Funding is to be used for on-site dissertation research; research cannot be at the applicant’s home institution unless that institution has necessary site-specific
research holdings not otherwise available to the applicant. If your budget includes
equipment purchase(s) (e.g., laptop; photo, video, or audio equipment), you must
clearly and specifically motivate the request in relation to planned work and
successful project completion, show that the request is for cost-effective equipment
appropriate to your research that you do not otherwise have access to, and explain
what you plan to do with the equipment at the end of your project (e.g. donate to an
educational organization related to your research). ACIP will not support equipment
requests totaling more than 20% of the budget.
Applicants who have completed significant funded dissertation research by
the start of their proposed ACIP research may be ineligible to apply to extend
research time. Eligibility will be at the discretion of the ACIP Selection Committee,
depending on completed research time and funding. Please note that Ivan Karp
Doctoral Research Awards support dissertation research only and may not be used
for dissertation write-up, editing or printing; tuition; study at other universities;
conference participation; or to reimburse debts or expenses for research already
completed. The programme does not accept applications from Ph.D. programmes in
Law, Business, Medicine, Nursing, or Journalism, nor does it accept applications
from doctoral programmes that do not lead to a Ph.D.
SELECTION PROCESS: Applications will be reviewed by the ACIP
Selection Committee, an interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners drawn
from a range of universities and cultural institutions. Selection will be based on the
merit and strength of the application. Award amounts will vary according to project
needs; the maximum award is ZAR 50,000. Awards will be made only if applications
of high quality are received. Notification of awards will be made by late July.
Successful applicants will be required to attend the African Critical Inquiry
Workshop in the following year and will have opportunities to consult with scholars
associated with the Workshop. They will be expected to attend subsequent ACIP
Workshops while completing their dissertations, if possible. After completing their
research, applicants must submit a final research report and a financial report.
Students who receive an Ivan Karp Doctoral Research Award from ACIP must
acknowledge the support in their dissertation and in any publications resulting from
the research. When the dissertation is completed, they must deposit a copy with the
African Critical Inquiry Programme at the Centre for Humanities Research.
Closing date: Applications and referees’ letters must be
received on or before Thursday 1 May 2025. Incomplete
applications and applications that do not conform to format
guidelines will not be considered.
Please submit materials as a single file attachment with
documents in the order listed above. Applications should be sent
by email with the heading “ACIP 2025 Research Award Application”
to acip.uwc@gmail.com.
Supported by funding from the Ivan Karp and Corinne Kratz Fund
http://www.graduateschool.emory.edu/about/special/acip.html
https://www.facebook.com/ivan.karp.corinne.kratz.fund