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ARUA’s Early Career Researcher program aims to enhance the capacity of young researchers at African universities by providing them with time away from teaching duties at their home institutions to collaborate with highly experienced and distinguished researchers at ARUA’s Centres of Excellence.

The program represents a landmark initiative in advancing high-quality research in Africa, conducted by African scholars. It offers an enabling environment for building research capacity and fostering globally relevant inquiry for the socio-economic transformation of the continent. The initiative aligns with ARUA’s strategic vision to expand postdoctoral and early career research opportunities across all ARUA member universities.

Launched in 2022 as a pilot initiative with funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the ARUA Early Career Research Fellowship has so far supported twenty-four (24) fellows. The first cohort, consisting of nine (9) fellows, participated in a one-year programme. The second phase, implemented in 2023, engaged two (2) fellows. The third phase, held in 2024, supported thirteen (13) fellows. Beneficiaries of the program have included young faculty from both ARUA and non-ARUA universities in Africa.

ARUA Early Career Research Fellows

Cohort 3: 2024

Akwasi Adu-Poku

Akwasi Adu-Poku

  • Education
    PhD Bioengineering – KNUST, MPhil Renewable Energy Technologies – KNUST, BSc (Hons) Agricultural Engineering – KNUST
  • Research Topic
    Climate governance in Ghana
  • Home Institution
    Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    University of Cape Town, ARUA CoE in Climate and Development
Alphonce Agola Mollo

Alphonce Agola Mollo

  • Education
    On going PhD
  • Research Topic
    MULTI-DIMENSIONAL INEQUALITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND CLIMATE GOVERNANCE IN KENYA
  • Home Institution
    University of Nairobi
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    University of Cape Town
Amare Abawa

Amare Abawa

  • Education
    PhD, MBA, BA, and other professional Certificates
  • Research Topic
    The Mediating Role of Marketing Innovation on the Relationship Between Entrepreneurs Competency and Enterprise Growth for Employment Generation: Evidence from Ethiopia
  • Home Institution
    Addis Ababa University
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    University of Lagos, ARUA CoE in Unemployment and Skills Development
Deborah Damilola Adeyemo

Deborah Damilola Adeyemo

  • Education
    PhD(Ibadan), LLM (Cape Town), BL (Nig) LLB (Ife)
  • Research Topic
    Transitional Justice Mechanisms in Nigeria Post Boko-Haram Insurgency
  • Home Institution
    University of Ibadan, Nigeria
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, ARUA CoE in Post-Conflict Societies
Djim Mouhamadou Lamine Diongue

Djim Mouhamadou Lamine Diongue

  • Education
    PhD and Msc in Hydrogeology; Bsc in Geoscience
  • Research Topic
    Applying the Adaptive Systemic Approach: Strengthening Participatory Governance for Water Security in Lake Guiers, Senegal
  • Home Institution
    Cheikh anta Diop University of Dakar
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    Rhodes University, ARUA CoE Water
Femi Adekunle Balogun

Femi Adekunle Balogun

  • Education
    Ph.D., M.Sc., B.Sc., HND, ND
  • Research Topic
    Urban Security Design and Residential Neighbourhood Safety in Lagos State, Nigeria
  • Home Institution
    University of Ibadan
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    University of Lagos, ARUA CoE in Urbanization and Habitable Cities
Fuseini Nbelayim Sugri Pascal

Fuseini Nbelayim Sugri Pascal

  • Education
    PhD (Electrical & Electronic Info Eng.); MEng. (Functional electronic materials); BSc (Chemistry)
  • Research Topic
    Preparation of Hierarchically Porous CaCu3Ti4O12 with Potential Application for Photocatalytic/Photoelectrocatalytic Water Treatment and Green Hydrogen Generation via Water Splitting
  • Home Institution
    University of Ghana
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, ARUA CoE for Materials, Energy and Nanotechnology
John Edison Sempiira

John Edison Sempiira

  • Education
    PhD. Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University of Georgia, USA (2019). Msc. Agricultural Engineering, University of Georgia, USA (2016). Bsc. Agricultural Engineering, Makerere University. (2014)
  • Research Topic
    Techno-Economics of Developed Resource Recovery Techniques from Plant residues; Viability of Sub-Saharan Indigenous Feed-stock
  • Home Institution
    Makerere University
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    Stellenbosch University, ARUA CoE in Energy
Nana Ama Frimpomaa Agyapong

Nana Ama Frimpomaa Agyapong

  • Education
    PhD, Biochemistry and Biotecnology
  • Research Topic
  • Home Institution
    University of Cape Coast
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    University of Nairobi, ARUA CoE in Non-Communicable Diseases
Nixon Wamamela

Nixon Wamamela

  • Education
    PhD, MA Philosophy, BA
  • Research Topic
    An Assessment of the Ideal of the Veil of Ignorance in the 1995 Constitutional Reforms in Uganda
  • Home Institution
    Makerere University
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    Addis Ababa University, ARUA CoE in Good Governance
Omonigho Simon Umukoro

Omonigho Simon Umukoro

  • Education
    (1) Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Industrial and Organizational Psychology (Ibadan). (2) Master of Science (M.Sc.), Industrial and Organizational Psychology (ibadan). (3) Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) Guidance Counselling/Economics (Ibadan). (4) Professional Diploma in Statistics (Ibadan). (5) West African Examination Council (WAEC) O’level Certificate
  • Research Topic
    The mediating role of familial socialization in building resilience towards perceived cultural trauma among African adolescents in multicultural settings
  • Home Institution
    University of Lagos
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    Makerere University, ARUA CoE in Notions of Identities
Raymond Elikplim Kofinti

Raymond Elikplim Kofinti

  • Education
    PhD (Economics), University of Cape Coast, 2016-2019
  • Research Topic
    Essays on Consumption and Formal Healthcare Utilisation Inequalities
  • Home Institution
    University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    University of Nairobi, ARUA CoE in Inequality Research
Selorm Yaotse Dorvlo

Selorm Yaotse Dorvlo

  • Education
    PhD – 2018 – Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; MPhil – 2013 – University of Ghana; BSc – 2010 – University of Ghana.
  • Research Topic
    Framework and policy guidelines for integrating gender transformative approaches into sustainable agricultural mechanization of smallholder rice production in Ghana
  • Home Institution
    University of Ghana, Legon
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    University of Pretoria, ARUA CoE in Sustainable Food Systems

Cohort 2: 2023

Newayemedhin A. Tegegne

Newayemedhin A. Tegegne

  • Education
    PhD Physics
  • Research Topic
    Renewable Energy, Material development and Nanotechnology 
  • Home Institution
    Addis Ababa University
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    Stellenbosch University, ARUA CoE in Energy
Francis Otieno

Francis Otieno

  • Education
    PhD. Physics (Wits)
  • Research Topic
    Probing Charge-Transfer States at Donor: Acceptor Interfaces: Impact of Static and Dynamic Disorders 
  • Home Institution
    Maseno University
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
     University of Witwatersrand, Materials, Energy & Nanotechnology (MEN) 

Cohort 1: 2022

Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo

Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo

  • Education
    PhD Sociology
  • Research Topic
    After-lives of Nigerian deportees from China
  • Home Institution
    University of Ibadan
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    University of Witwatersrand, Migration and Mobility
Wakil Asekum

Wakil Asekum

  • Education
    PhD Psychology
  • Research Topic
    Notions of Identity in Contemporary Africa: Collective Memory, Politicized Group Boundaries, and Role Conflicts in Shaping Individual and National Belonging
  • Home Institution
    University of Ibadan
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    Makerere University, ARUA CoE in Notions of Identity
Bezaye Gorfu Tessema

Bezaye Gorfu Tessema

  • Education
    PhD Ecosystem Management, MSc, Environmental Science, BSc Plant Science
  • Research Topic
    Water pollution impact on ecosystem, ecosystem management and carbon sequestration areas.
  • Home Institution
    Addis Ababa University
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    Rhodes University
Joseph Nzabahimana

Joseph Nzabahimana

  • Education
    PhD, Engineering specializing in Materials Science
  • Research Topic
    Materials, Energy and Nanotechnology
  • Home Institution
    University of Rwanda
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    University of Witwatersrand, Materials, Energy & Nanotechnology
Benjamin Agyei-Tuffour

Benjamin Agyei-Tuffour

  • Education
    PhD, Materials Science and Engineering, AUST; MSc. Materials Science and Engineering, NTNU, BSc.(Hons) Metallurgical Engineering, KNUST
  • Research Topic
    Organic and Perovskite Solar Cells with Plasmonic Enhancements for cheap and reliable energy alternatives
  • Home Institution
    University of Ghana
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    Stellenbosch University, ARUA CoE in Energy
Elmer Nayra Ametefe

Elmer Nayra Ametefe

  • Education
    Phd, Biochemistry and Biotechnology, MSc Biochemisrty and Biotechnology, BSc, Plant and Environmental Biology
  • Research Topic
    Evidence-led Policy Development for Sustainable Food Systems – Research and Gaps in Research in Three African Tertiary Institutions (University of Ghana, University of Nairobi and University of Pretoria)
  • Home Institution
    University of Ghana
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    University of Pretoria, ARUA CoE in Sustainable Food Systems
Cornelius Were Okello

Cornelius Were Okello

  • Education
    Phd, Marine & Coastal Management Education
  • Research Topic
    Climate Change and Water Resource Management: A Co-designed, Integrated Framework for Adaptive Management of Freshwater in Coastal Areas Under the Threat of Climate Change: A Case Study of Lamu, Kenya.
  • Home Institution
    University of Nairobi
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    University of Cape Town, Climate and Development
Thokozani Jean Chilenga-Butao

Thokozani Jean Chilenga-Butao

  • Education
    PhD, Political Studies
  • Research Topic
    Federalism, based at the Center of Excellence in Good Governance, Addis Ababa University under the project Federalism, Devolution and Regional Integration as a Response for Crises of Governance in the Horn of Africa
  • Home Institution
    University of the Witwatersrand
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    Addis Ababa University, Good Governance
Kwadwo Danso-Mensah

Kwadwo Danso-Mensah

  • Education
    PhD, Development Economics
  • Research Topic
    Inequalities research in Africa
  • Home Institution
    University of Ghana
  • Host Institution & Centre of Excellence
    University of Cape Town, ARUA CoE in Inequalities Research (ACEIR)