Applications call for Decolonising Digital: A British Council fellowship at the University of Edinburgh for early-career researchers from Africa. The British Council, in partnership with the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh, has developed a bespoke fellowship opportunity for early-career researchers from Africa who are living and working on the continent.

Funding

The successful candidate will undertake a 7 months research fellowship based with IASH at the University of Edinburgh, starting in April 2021. They will receive a stipend of £1,300 per month, a £1,000 travel grant, and assistance with the UK visa application process and costs.

Qualifications

This fellowship is open to early-career researchers who are citizens of any African country AND resident on the continent. The other standard eligibility criteria for IASH Postdoctoral Fellowship programs apply. In addition, applicants must have:

• A research and/or professional background that relates to the core areas of British Council programming and strategic engagement: Culture and Creative Industries, Education, Inclusive Communities, and International Cultural Relations more broadly
  an interest in and understanding of digital technologies and platforms and in debates around digital access and inclusivity.
• Experience of engaging non-academic audiences and stakeholders in research (e.g. through engagement with policymakers, practitioners, artists or broad public audiences).
• Commitment to professional development and a clear understanding of how the fellowship will support this
• A clear commitment to knowledge sharing and the development of best practices beyond the timeframe of the fellowship itself, based on the networks, insights, and learnings developed through their research.

Outputs and Deadlines

• The fellowship will be undertaken from April to October 2021.
• The fellow will be expected and encouraged to work on academic research outputs (e.g. journal articles, conference papers) drawing on the supportive research environment and networking opportunities of IASH.
• In addition, a range of deliverables will be agreed with the British Council that will be targeted at British Council audiences and stakeholders (both internal and external).
• These will include staff talks and workshops and a short and accessible paper for an informed but non-expert audience.
• The council is particularly interested in working with the fellow to develop ideas for creative outputs relating to the fellowship (e.g. films, video-games, artistic performance, apps, interactive web-based outputs).
• The program welcomes innovative and participatory approaches to engage broad public audiences in the research, in the UK and across the African continent and beyond.
• A detailed plan for the production and dissemination of research outputs will be agreed upon between the British Council, IASH, and the research fellow once the fellowship is underway.

Decolonising Digital Fellowship outline