IDM-Africa fellow

Sub-Saharan Africa needs more local infectious-disease modellers to generate evidence for outbreaks, antimicrobial resistance and other public-health priorities. IDM-Africa is a Strategic Training Hub that will build this capacity through Workshops for early- and mid-career researchers and one-year mentored Fellowships for advanced modellers. Fellows will develop locally relevant modelling projects and translate findings into scientific papers, policy briefs and practical recommendations. The programme combines hands-on learning, expert mentorship and sustained peer support to strengthen African modelling leadership and institutional capacity.

IDM-Africa invites applications from early- and mid-career scientists in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for its annual Fellowship Programme in infectious-disease modelling. The Fellowship supports scientists who already have foundational training and practical experience in infectious-disease modelling to develop an applied, policy-relevant modelling project using their own data. Fellows will receive structured mentorship from leading modellers, infectious-disease experts and policy specialists at partner institutions.

The partner sites are The Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) at Makerere University; University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB) and Amsterdam University Medical Center (UMC) with their corresponding training sites being The African Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Data-Intensive Sciences, Kampala-Uganda (ACE-Uganda); The African Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Data-Intensive Sciences, Bamako-Mali (ACE-B); and The Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development (AIGHD).

Each Fellowship runs for 12 months:

• One month of in-person placement at the selected host institution (ACE-Uganda or ACE-B), with intensive mentor-guided project development.
• Eleven months of online mentorship , including at least one mentor-mentee session every two weeks, peer-learning activities, monthly progress reporting, and quarterly review meetings.

Fellows should be able to commit 100% FTE for month 1 and approximately 4 hours a day (50% FTE) to Fellowship activities during the online mentorship period.

During the Fellowship, participants will refine their research question; prepare and analyse data; develop, test and interpret infectious-disease models; strengthen reproducible research practice; receive code and data-review support; develop scientific-writing and policy-communication skills; and engage with public-health stakeholders where relevant.

For this round, we are recruiting three (3) fellows as follows:

• Two (2) Positions at IDI / ACE-Uganda (Open to candidates who are fluent in English, including those from non-Anglophone SSA countries)
• One (1) Position at ACE-Mali / USTTB (Open to candidates who are fluent in French, including those from non-Francophone SSA countries)

Fellow Deliverables

By the end of the Fellowship, each Fellow will be expected to:

• Complete a documented and validated infectious-disease model, including reproducible code in R, Python or equivalent software.
• Submit a final project report to the IDM-Africa coordinating centre at IDI.
• Submit a manuscript as lead author to a peer-reviewed open-access journal.
• Produce a policy brief as lead author communicating the relevance of the modelling results to policymakers.
• Submit regular bi-weekly progress updates and quarterly performance reports via the IDI iBRIDGE system / Virtual Communities of Learning (VCL) platform.
• Attend the monthly peer-fellow meetings.
• Present progress during quarterly Fellowship review meetings.
• Present research findings at a workshop or regional scientific conference and at the annual IDM-Africa policy translation workshop.
• Complete all agreed mentorship, reporting and deliverable requirements to receive a certificate of completion.

Applications to any host site (IDI/ACE-Uganda and ACE-Mali) MUST be submitted through the official IDI Recruitment Portal .

• Access the online portal at the IDI Careers page.
• Locate the advert titled : IDM-Africa Fellowship Programme in Infectious Disease Modelling
• Click Apply and upload your complete application package as a single PDF document including:
• A current curriculum vitae.
• Certified copies of academic certificates and transcripts.
• A scanned copy of a national ID or passport.
• Two letters of recommendation from current or previous supervisors or mentors.
• A statement of career goals and motivation for pursuing a career in infectious-disease modelling.
• Your preferred Fellowship host site; ACE-Uganda or ACE-B (Mali) and a brief explanation of why the placement is appropriate.
• A description of the modelling project you intend to develop with mentors, including the proposed research question, methods and anticipated public-health relevance.
• A statement describing the potential policy implications of the proposed work and how you intend to support uptake of findings.
• A brief description of the data you will use to parameterise and validate the model.
• A letter of commitment from your home institution confirming support for your participation, including providing at least 50% protected time during the 11-month online mentorship period and support for completion of the manuscript, policy brief and visualisation/dashboard outputs.

Academic Qualifications

• Hold a master’s degree in a quantitative discipline—such as mathematics, physics, data science or statistics—or a health-related field, together with short-term training in infectious-disease modelling. Candidates holding or pursuing a PhD in these disciplines are also eligible to apply.

Person Specification

Applicants must meet all the following criteria:

• Be affiliated with an institution located in sub-Saharan Africa and within the EDCTP Association.
• Be resident in, or willing to relocate to, an eligible sub-Saharan African country for the Fellowship placement.
• Hold a master’s degree in a quantitative discipline - such as mathematics, physics, data science or statistics or a health-related field, together with short-term training in infectious-disease modelling. Candidates holding or pursuing a PhD in these disciplines are also eligible to apply.
• Have practical experience in infectious-disease modelling, including having led a substantial component of a modelling-related project, particularly the mathematical-modelling component.
• Be proficient in at least one modelling platform or programming language, such as R, Python or MATLAB, and be able to manage datasets, formulate models, run simulations and interpret results.
• Demonstrate a clear commitment to a career in infectious-disease modelling and its application to public-health challenges.
• Be willing and able to work in interdisciplinary teams, including with epidemiologists, public-health officers, modellers and policymakers.
• Be available for the full one-month in-person placement and the subsequent 11 months of online mentorship.
• Commit to completing the agreed Fellowship outputs.
• Applicants affiliated with partner institutions, including institutions at IDI/Makerere University in Uganda or ACE-B/USTTB in Mali, are NOT eligible.