Joan Wrench Kirstenbosch Scholarship Fund

The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is pleased to announce a call for applications for Honours, Masters and Doctoral (or equivalent NQF levels) scholarships for full-time studies in 2024.

Projects:

Only projects relevant to SANBI’s mandate and research strategy and identified as a priority will be considered. For specific projects (here) For other projects, please contact us before submitting an application to check if your proposal is suitable.

Requirements:

Candidates must be pro-active, enthusiastic, and interested in doing excellent research that can make a difference. These scholarships are only available to South African citizens and will be awarded in line with national equity targets. Students need to apply for university programmes themselves and the scholarship is conditional upon them securing their placement in a postgraduate programme and have provisional acceptance from prospective academic supervisors. Please contact the SANBI supervisor for endorsement prior to applying.

Conditions:

• Only full-time studies will be supported
• Applicants must be South African citizens and under 35 years of age
• Applicants can register at any South African university
• Applicants must be based in the Western Cape for at least three (3) months of every year of study; for field work and face to face consultation with SANBI supervisors (where relevant).
• The focus of research projects, including field sites must be in the Western Cape
• Only research projects in line with SANBI’s mandate and research strategy will be considered
• Applicants must not be employed
• Existing studies will not be supported
• Registration for a second Honours, Masters or Doctoral degree will not be considered
• Where applicants hold partial scholarships/bursaries, co-funding will be considered
• For Masters studies, applicants must hold an Honours degree/Postgraduate Diploma

Scholarship values: (to cover living expenses and university fees)

• Honours: R120 000 for one year only
• Masters: R150 000/year for two years
• Doctoral: R180 000/year for three years

Project running expenses will be covered separately and will vary depending on the project.

Application procedure:

Each application is to be accompanied by a standard application cover sheet form.

Applications are to include a letter of interest; full CV; certified copies of academic record/transcript and highest qualification; as well as ID; a project outline; two letters of academic reference; a letter from prospective university supervisor as well as SANBI supervisor, indicating willingness to supervise and provisional registration/application from the university. Send all documents to students@sanbi.org.za  and students.sanbi@gmail.com with “Joan Wrench Kirstenbosch Scholarship studentships” in the subject line.

SANBI reserves the right not to fill these scholarships. If no response has been received within 30 days of the closing date, candidates may assume that their applications were unsuccessful.

Contact details:

Dr Ferozah Conrad (f.conrad@sanbi.org.za)

Ms René du Toit (r.dutoit@sanbi.org.za)