The Dorcas Muthoni PhD Fellowship

The Dorcas Muthoni PhD Fellowship honors our Doctor Honoris Causa recipient, Dorcas Muthoni.

Will be part of the Doctoral Programme in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) at the Department of Engineering of Pompeu Fabra University (UPF)

Main Objectives of the Fellowship

1. To promote gender equality and reduce the gender gap in ICT
   The fellowship aims to facilitate more women pursuing scientific, technological, and engineering careers by lowering the barriers women face when entering and advancing in STEM disciplines.
   
2. To share excellent research opportunities with African female researchers during their PhD studies
   Our Engineering Department comprises more than 20 research groups, highly active in international research projects. Nationally, we are the only Engineering university department in Spain awarded twice the Spanish research excellence seal María de Maeztu. The María de Maeztu Strategic Research Program is a four-year research initiative funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness to advance artificial and natural intelligence for ICT and beyond, benefiting not only our department but the entire university community
3. To contribute to future social impact in African countries
   Applicants are expected to return to their home countries in Africa after completing their PhD studies to pursue careers related to ICT, thereby fostering technological development and social progress in their communities.
   

Students will pursue doctoral studies in one of the ICT research areas, which include: Cognition, Computation and Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Theoretical Computer Science, Natural Language Processing, Ubiquitous Computing, Information Retrieval and Data Mining, Cognitive Multimedia Technologies, Image Processing and Computer Vision, Sound and Music Computing, Human-Computer Interaction, Graphics and Educational Technologies, Network Technologies and Strategies, Wireless Communications, Cybersecurity, Information Theory and Coding, Computational Neuroscience, Instrumentation and Biomedical Electronics, Computational Imaging and Computational Physiology, Analysis of Biomedical Data and Non-Linear Signal Analysis.

Please note that English is the main language for both written and oral communication within the PhD programme.

More information about the Doctoral Programme in Engineering (D.Eng) can be found here, and all admission requirements and necessary application documents are listed here.

Nationality
Applicants must be female researchers of African nationality.

Academic Background
Applicants must hold a higher education degree that qualifies them to enrol in the UPF ICT Doctoral Programme prior to starting their studies at UPF.

Once the evaluation results have been communicated, the selected candidate must apply for admission to the UPF ICT PhD Programme. The UPF Doctoral School will verify, during the admission process, whether the candidate's academic qualifications meet the eligibility criteria to enrol in an official doctoral programme in accordance with current regulations in Spain.
If, upon verification, the candidate is found not eligible, the fellowship will be withdrawn.

Candidates must not have already obtained a PhD degree.

More information on the admission requirements for the UPF ICT PhD Programme is available here:

Language Proficiency
Applicants must provide proof of English language proficiency at level B2 or higher submitting Accreditation of English competence level B2.

Mobility Rule
Candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, study, etc.) in Spain for more than twelve months during the three years immediately prior to the application deadline.