News & Updates

August 2025 Edition, Issue 92

Welcome to another edition of the CARTA monthly updates. Read on to keep abreast with what is new.

Progress Update on CARTA PhD Fellowships 2026

On August 5, 2025, CARTA advertised the call for applications for the 2026 PhD fellowships, inviting eligible candidates from African partner universities and research institutions to apply. To support potential applicants, CARTA organized an informative webinar on August 13. The session drew strong interest, with 117 participants in attendance, and provided an opportunity to address questions while offering clarity on the application process, eligibility criteria, and required documentation.

With the submission window now closed on August 20, 2025, the process has progressed to the review, nomination, and subsequent selection stages, which will identify the next cohort of fellows who will join CARTA’s doctoral training program and contribute to advancing research and innovation in Africa.

Enhancing Doctoral Supervision at University of Rwanda

The University of Rwanda organized a trainer of trainers for PhD supervisors on August 4 – 8 at its Gikondo Campus. A proven CARTA intervention, the supervisors workshop seeks to enhance supervision, reduce attrition in PhD programs, and ensure that doctoral candidates receive high-quality mentorship that supports timely completion and impactful research.



Officiated by Dr. Joseph Nkurunziza, Principal of the College of Business and Economics (CBE), the workshop brought together 25 senior academic staff and research directors from all six colleges at the university. CARTA, represented by Program Coordinator Cavens Kithinji, participated in the workshop, contributing the program's experience in implementing structured doctoral training in partner institutions across the continent and sharing insights on how universities can sustain excellence in supervision.

Strengthening Research Grant Proposal Writing

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), through the Afrique Research Support Hub (ARSH), with support from Wellcome, hosted a five-day grant writing workshop in Dakar, Senegal, on August 25-29, 2025. The event brought together early and mid-career researchers from West and Central Africa to strengthen their skills in developing strong grant proposals that meet the expectations of funding agencies. CARTA graduates Magutah Karani and Sunday Adedini led the workshop. Charles Kato and CARTA faculty Ann Mwangi, among others, facilitated various sessions. Kudus Adebayo participated in the training of trainers session that ran concurrently. The workshop was the first adaptation of the CARTA Graduate Grant Writing Workshop (GGWW) delivered in both English and French, marking the first step in expanding CARTA’s interventions beyond its community and into multilingual contexts. Watch highlights of the event here.

Chimwemwe Banda, cohort 6, graduated with a PhD in Public Health on August 29, 2025, from Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS), Malawi.

Enock Chisati, cohort 7, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS), was appointed a member of the KUHeS Senate, effective June 20, 2025. The Senate is the University’s highest academic decision-making body, responsible for guiding academic policies, programs, and standards. Through this role, Chisati will contribute to strengthening KUHeS’s academic excellence and advancing its mission in health sciences education and research.

Sunday Adedini, cohort 1, was appointed as Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria, effective August 1, 2025. In this role, he will provide academic and administrative leadership to the faculty, guide curriculum development, promote research and innovation, and support the professional growth of staff and students.

Samuel Mwaniki, Cohort 8, University of Nairobi, was appointed Joint Staff (Researcher) at the University of the Witwatersrand Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (Wits RHI), Faculty of Health Sciences, effective August 1, 2025. In this role, he will conduct independent and collaborative research, produce publications and book chapters, present at conferences, mentor and co-supervise postgraduate students, and engage with local, regional, and international stakeholders to advance the University of the Witwatersrand’s mission. Samuel credits his appointment to the support he received from CARTA, including sponsoring his PhD studies and connecting him to the Wits ecosystem, which helped build the collaborations that led to his appointment to the role.

Folashayo Adeniji, cohort 8, University of Ibadan, was appointed as Research Lead at the Center for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA) for the Tobacco Control Data Initiative (TCDI), effective August 1, 2025. TCDI is a collaboration with Development Gateway and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this role, Folashayo will oversee TCDI activities in seven African countries: DRC, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, and Zambia. His work will focus on strengthening access to reliable, country-specific data that informs tobacco control policies and supports evidence-based public health across the continent.

Caroline Sawe, cohort 4, Moi University, together with collaborators from African Leadership University (Rwanda) and the University of Toronto (Canada), received an 18-month research grant of USD 33,000 from the Africa Health Collaborative. Their project, “Building capacities in Planetary Health and One Health competencies among Primary Health Workers for health system strengthening in Africa: Kenya and Rwanda,” seeks to equip primary health care workers with critical skills to respond to health challenges driven by climate and environmental factors.

Henry Zakumumpa, cohort 4, Makerere University, was appointed Guest Editor of the BMC Health Services Research special collection on HIV-related stigma as a barrier to accessing health care on August 8, 2025. Henry will provide editorial leadership in determining the research gaps to be covered under the collection, selecting priority themes to be considered, and choosing the study designs that will be accepted.  

Andrew Tamale, cohort 4, and Stephen Wandera, cohort 2, both from Makerere University, were part of a 15-member team of university faculty that participated in the third invitational training program at Korea National Open University (KNOU) in Seoul, Korea. Held on August 10 - 23, 2025, the program was part of the “Uganda e-Learning Faculty Innovation and Capacity Building” project hosted by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The training focused on harnessing edutech for distance education, e-learning content production methodology, and hands-on practical training. Beyond technical knowledge, the fellowship fostered cultural exchange and collaboration with peers from other countries, contributing to human resource development and advancing capacity for educational transformation in partner institutions.

Hassan Gallad, cohort 11, Somalia National University, presented a paper on “Geospatial and Multilevel Analysis of Timely Vaccination Among Children Aged 12–35 Months in Somalia” at the International Conference on Data Science for Sustainable Development (Data-SD) 2025. The conference was hosted by Amoud University on August 18 - 20, 2025. His presentation, complemented by a poster on the study, highlighted weighted timely vaccination coverage and regional spatial distribution, emphasizing the value of geospatial and multilevel approaches in strengthening child health interventions and immunization programs in Somalia.

Noel Korukire, cohort 9, University of Rwanda, successfully defended his PhD thesis on August 20, 2025, at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Public Health. His thesis, titled “Exposure to Air Pollution and Its Associated Health Effects Among Primary School Children in Kigali-Rwanda,” examined the impact of air pollution on child health and generated evidence to inform public health interventions in Rwanda.

Funding Opportunity: Economic Research Rescue Fund

The Social Science Research Council (SSRC), in collaboration with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is offering emergency grants to support economics research projects whose National Science Foundation (NSF) funding was terminated, canceled, or suspended after June 1, 2025. Grants range from $25,000 to $250,000 (most awards under $50,000). Researchers can apply to continue or complete work that has a significant societal impact. Eligible applicants must provide their original NSF proposal and related documentation. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Details

Call for Papers: HIV Stigma as a Barrier to Accessing Health Care

BMC Health Services Research invites submissions to its Collection on HIV stigma as a barrier to accessing healthcare. The Collection welcomes research examining the impact of stigma on service utilization and discrimination, as well as innovative interventions that reduce barriers to care, to promote equitable access to healthcare for people living with HIV. Details

Deadline: May 6, 2026

Call for Abstracts: Radical Reform in Primary and Community Care

Health Economics, Policy and Law (HEPL), in partnership with the European Health Policy Group (EHPG), invites abstracts for a special issue on radical reform in primary and community care. The issue seeks papers examining reform efforts across diverse health system contexts, analysing policy strategies, and exploring mechanisms driving system-level change. Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners are encouraged to submit their abstracts. Selected authors will present at a virtual workshop on December 3, 2025, and may be invited to present full papers at the Spring 2026 EHPG meeting in Poland, with publication in early 2027. Abstract submission: Up to 500 words, via email to Sara Allin ( sara.allin@utoronto.ca ) and Jean-Louis Denis ( jeanlouis.denis@utoronto.ca )

Deadline: October 27, 2025

Call for Expression of Interest:  Adolescent and Youth Scientific Panel

The Union for African Population Studies (UAPS) is accepting applications for its Adolescent and Youth Scientific Panel, which will advance research and policy dialogue on issues affecting adolescents and young people in Africa. Details

Deadline: September 12, 2025

Exhibition Opportunity: Collection Development in Africa (CDiA 2025)

Exhibitors and sponsors are invited to showcase at the 2nd edition of the CDiA Conference in Cape Town on September 22 - 23, 2025. This informal, collaborative gathering brings together librarians, publishers, vendors, and technology providers from Africa and beyond. Exhibiting offers a prime platform to connect with approximately 100 delegates, spotlight your services, and engage directly with decision-makers in African scholarly communication. Details

Call for Applications: Southern Africa Cohort of the Afrique Research Support Hub (ARSH) Program

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), in collaboration with Wellcome and the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI), invites applications for the Southern Africa cohort of the Afrique Research Support Hub (ARSH) Program. This 12-month initiative will train and mentor post-PhD early and mid-career researchers in securing international research grants through a hybrid model of online and in-person activities. Details

Key Deadlines:

• September 15, 2025: Intent to Submit form
• September 30, 2025: Full application deadline
• November 17, 2025: Notification of selection outcomes
• January 26–30, 2026: Residential workshop in South Africa (hosted by AHRI)

Webinar Series: People, Planet, and Policy

Organized by the Union for African Population Studies (UAPS), this webinar will explore the connections between population dynamics and climate change in Africa. It will examine how demographic trends intersect with environmental challenges and policy responses through an interactive presentation with a Q&A session. The session will be held via Zoom with simultaneous interpretation in English and French. Participation is free but limited to 200 spots. Details

Leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Research Impact: Watch CARTA’s webinar series on Leveraging AI for Academic and Research Impact, featuring discussions on how AI works, its strengths, benefits for research, implications for teaching, and academic integrity. To dive deeper into AI in research, read The Atlantic article by Will Oremus on how AI is shaping the college class of 2026, and a study by Martin Weller, Katy Jordan, Tony Coughlan, and Mark Childs in the International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education on strategies for integrating AI into teaching and learning. 

Your Go-To Research Toolkit: Looking for quick and accessible ways to get research papers? Here’s a curated list of widely used platforms and tools. Explore essentials like PubMed Central, JSTOR, arXiv, and Google Scholar. Open-access options such as DOAJ, CORE, bioRxiv, and SSRN. Helpful tools such as ResearchGate, Semantic Scholar, Unpaywall, and Research4Life, plus specialized sources like EThOS, Internet Archive, SciELO, and OpenAIRE.

Community Engagement & Involvement for Impact: Join the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) virtual Community Engagement & Involvement (CEI) Shared Learning Event on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, with two sessions (9:00–10:30 AM or 3:30–5:00 PM UK time). The event will explore practical ways to track and evaluate how CEI influences research and communities, featuring case studies from NIHR-funded projects such as REDRESS, CLEAN-Air (Africa), iMPACT, and ECLIPSE. Registration for the sessions: Morning | Afternoon

To be featured in the next CARTA Monthly, share with us your news and updates

via email to cartacomms@cartafrica.org on or before September 25, 2025.

Submissions should include but are not limited to:

Upcoming events, meetings, story ideas, new collaborations, new trials/updates, upcoming and published papers, policy briefs, community engagement activities, scholarships, what you are reading, if you won a grant, attending or about an upcoming conference, a call for applications/funding/papers, etc.

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