Call for Applications: 2025 African Faculty Fellows

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FAQ

Scientific Scope

Program Structure

Expectations

Eligibility

Application Process & Package

Timeline

Selection Criteria

Program Environment

Submission

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. 

Expectations

AF Fellows are expected to successfully implement their research, training and impact plans and actively participate in collaborative learning and other program activities, as well as activities through the African Studies Center. While in residence at U-M, they are expected to spend at least 50% of time in-person at MIDAS’s space. In addition, AF Fellows will be expected to develop an Individualized Training, Research, and Impact Plan (I-TRIP) at the time of application and revise and implement it at U-M and at their home institutions. They will also develop research collaboration with U-M and other American scientists. When they return to Africa, they will be expected to implement the I-TRIP with support from our program and their U-M faculty hosts and collaborators.

The U-M faculty Host will be responsible for co-designing and co-leading a one-year research project with the AF Fellow and managing seed funds provided by the program. The faculty Host will work with the program team to help the AF Fellow seek AI skill-building opportunities, develop research collaborations with other U-M AI experts and domain scientists, and develop the I-TRIP.  Faculty Hosts are also expected to actively participate in the Schmidt AI in Science program activities in MIDAS, including being the champions for the program, reviewing applications, and participating in collaborative learning sessions, among others.

Schmidt Sciences may organize research and networking activities and conferences that will bring together AF Fellows and some Hosts from across all of their postdoctoral training sites. The AF Fellows and Hosts should meet the participation expectations of Schmidt Sciences.

Eligibility

  • The candidate must either have a primary appointment as a faculty member at a university in Africa, or an appointment in an African research organization where they carry out research in a capacity similar to a university faculty member. 
  • The candidate should have a PhD degree prior to the start date of the Fellow appointment, but must not have received this degree more than ten (10) years prior to the start date. 
  • The degree can be in any field. (Note the science and engineering domains listed above that are in scope: these apply to the area of proposed work, but not to the field of their graduate degree). 
  • The ideal candidate will have the expertise to address significant domain science and engineering challenges and enable research breakthroughs, including those that are particularly important for Africa. They should also demonstrate interest in acquiring AI skills and implementing them in the proposed research direction.

We recognize that strength comes through diversity and actively seek and welcome both candidates and hosts with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and identities. 

Individuals already at U-M are eligible to apply if their proposed faculty Hosts are different from their current ones. 

The Application Process & Package

  • Stage 1: An applicant will submit an application package that includes the following:
    • The candidate’s CV.
    • An Individualized Training, Research and Impact Plan (I-TRIP), up to 4 pages, font size 10 and above, that includes
      • A compelling research vision and a plausible approach to achieving that vision. Note that the program seeks to promote research that is transformative and creative, with the potential to spur significant advances in the application of AI in science and engineering.  You will have only a page or two (of the 4 pages total) for this part of your I-TRIP.  So we do not expect a full-blown proposal with all details in place, full description of related work, and a complete bibliography.  Rather, just a high-level description of your main idea(s).  If you have already been in contact with a prospective Host at the University of Michigan, we encourage you to consult with them about what to write.
      • A vision of developing AI in science and engineering capacity once they return to Africa. This can be a variety of projects, such as developing an “AI in Science” class for their university, or a workshop for the local research community; organizing regional AI in Science events; developing exchange activities that allow U-M researchers to visit Africa for research collaboration or teaching; working with grassroots organizations/research networks to promote AI for Science. They may build synergy with other organizations, especially the collaborators of our program. The applicants are strongly encouraged to propose what is feasible and important for their institution, their country, and their region. 
      • Qualifications, experiences, or passions that make the applicant particularly suitable for this program;
      • A short list of essential citations used in the research statement may be included within the 4 pages.
    • By default, the program team will match applicants with U-M faculty Hosts. However, if an applicant has already identified a U-M Host, please indicate this in the application form.
    • Names and contact information of two or three additional references. The program team will request letters from these individuals only if an applicant advances to Stage 2.
  • Stage 2: The program team will make preliminary screenings and, based on their initial I-TRIP, recommend one or more U-M faculty Hosts to applicants who pass the initial screening (if one was not already identified in Stage 1). The applicant will then select one U-M faculty Host and collaborate with them to improve the I-TRIP and submit the following application supplements.
    • Six (6) keywords about research plan.
    • Brief summary of the I-TRIP (3 sentences or less). Note: accepted applicants will have this summary posted on the program website. 
    • A revised I-TRIP, based on discussion with their proposed Host(s).
    • A Letter of Support from the faculty Host. This is not a reference letter. Instead, this is similar to a letter of support that is included in a training grant, delineating the applicant’s qualifications, the significance of the research project, the fit with this program, and a plan to collaborate with the applicant and to support their impact plan. 
    • A Letter of Support from the applicant’s home institution approving a leave and affirming that the applicant will resume their position upon completion of the program. 

Timeline

  • Priority deadline of stage 1 application submission: 11:59 pm EDT, Oct. 31, 2024. All applications received by this deadline will be given full consideration. Late applications may be considered until all slots are filled.
  • Notification of recommended U-M faculty Hosts: Nov. 10, 2024.
  • Submission of application supplements: Nov. 23, 2024.
  • Acceptance notifications will start in early February, 2025.
  • Accepted Fellows will have two weeks to decide whether to accept the offer.
  • The expected start date will be summer 2025, negotiable for special cases.

Selection Criteria

  • Fit with the program: the alignment of research, training and impact plan with program scope and goals.
  • Candidate qualification: the candidate’s past research experience and accomplishments; and the candidate’s potential to become a research leader in the realm of AI in science and engineering.
  • Skills development: the candidate’s potential to acquire strong AI skills for the proposed research and long-term impact in the field; evidence that the candidate and the Host have carefully thought about the needs for skills development and are committed to it.
  • Potential of impact: the vision, the approach, and initial feasibility of making groundbreaking research discoveries, contributing to the development of an ecosystem of AI in science and engineering research in Africa, and contributing to longer-term research collaboration between African researchers and U-M (and more broadly American) researchers. 
  • Diversity: Of both applicants and Hosts, along multiple dimensions, including demographics and disciplines.

For questions, please contact schmidt-aim@umich.edu.

Program Environment

The University of Michigan leads the nation among research universities in research expenditures and is a national model of a complex, diverse, and comprehensive public research university. Over 100 U-M graduate programs are ranked in the top 10 in the U.S. by U.S. News and World Report, including its AI graduate education. 

The Michigan Institute for Data and AI in Society (MIDAS) is a reputed center of excellence in data science and artificial intelligence (AI). Our mission is to promote advancements in data science and artificial intelligence, and enable their transformative use in a wide range of research disciplines to achieve lasting scientific and societal impact. MIDAS operates a large number of research activities, training programs, and activities in community building and partnership development. 

MIDAS supports research through a number of approaches:

  • Developing guidance and resources for reproducible, responsible and ethical data science and AI. 
  • Leading strategic research thrust areas, such as the NSF funded Center for Data-Driven Drug Development and Treatment Assessment;
  • Providing research resources to enhance the U-M research capacity including pilot funding.
  • Supporting faculty to develop groundbreaking research ideas and secure major grants.
  • Organizing themed research colloquia and the annual data science and AI Summit.

MIDAS training activities include two postdoctoral programs as well as summer schools and year-round tutorials for researchers on applications of data science and AI methods in domain research.

More than 580 MIDAS affiliate faculty members come from all schools and colleges at U-M Ann Arbor campus, and from U-M Dearborn and Flint campuses. This makes MIDAS one of the largest, and one of the most scientifically diverse, data science institutes at a US university. The faculty collaborate extensively, with expertise encompassing theoretical foundations and a wide range of data science and AI methodology, and its applications in almost all research areas at U-M. Our community also includes staff scientists and >1000 graduate and undergraduate students in Data Science and related degree programs, and in student-run data science and AI clubs.  

MIDAS promotes a diverse and inclusive data science and AI research community by supporting researchers from underrepresented demographic groups, supporting staff scientists in academia, and collaborating with Minority-Serving Institutions.

MIDAS works with a large number of industry, academia, government and non-profit organizations to ensure that data science and AI research is enabled by real-world data and inspired by real-world challenges, and that research outcomes are translated into products, services and policies for positive social change. Our External Partnership program offers opportunities for joint research and talent recruitment for industry and public-sector organizations. Our Data for Social Good program uses cutting-edge research to support data-informed decision making for our partners, including the City of Detroit, the Native American tribal nations in Michigan, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. MIDAS is a member of the NSF Midwest Big Data Hub and provides leadership in several focus areas. We also work closely with academic data science organizations to foster a broader and collaborative research community and to maximize synergistic impact. We organize the annual Future Leaders Summit that convenes outstanding students and postdocs from around the country to promote responsible data science and AI and foster the next generation of research leaders.

The African Studies Center (ASC) of the University of Michigan (U-M) provides strategic guidance and coordination for Africa-related education, research and training activities on campus and promotes opportunities for collaboration with African partners. The Center serves as a conduit for U-M’s many Africa initiatives from the humanities, sciences, arts, and social sciences to medicine and engineering. The intellectual content and character of the Center’s programs are shaped by the Center’s Faculty Associates, and, where appropriate, students and affiliates. Its programs serve the general public, the scholarly community, University of Michigan faculty and students, Michigan teachers, and interested citizens and organizations.

The core mission of the ASC is to:

  1. Deepen and expand scholarly and educational partnerships between U-M and African institutions
  2. Support exchanges of students, faculty, and staff between U-M and African institutions
  3. Enhance the study of Africa, past and present, within the U-M curriculum 
  4. Connect faculty and students working in/on Africa from all colleges and units on campus
  5. Foster interdisciplinary research to find imaginative solutions to contemporary social, cultural, medical, technological and environmental problems 
  6. Serve as a public resource on Africa and Michigan’s involvement with it for the state and local community

Submission

Online submission only, through our application form.