Funded CEGA Visiting Fellowship at Berkeley

The Center for Effective Global Action at UC Berkeley runs a 16 week fellowship for East and West African researchers and practitioners who want to build skills in impact evaluation. Fellows audit coursework, get a faculty mentor and a PhD peer partner, and develop their own research or policy project, either in residence at Berkeley or online. There are two tracks: a Practitioner Track for people working in government ministries, think tanks or NGOs, and an Academic Track for early career scholars.

What you get:

• Resident fellows: housing at International House, meals, round-trip economy flights booked and paid by CEGA, visa fees, health insurance and a modest stipend
• Non-Resident fellows: a modest stipend
• A CEGA faculty mentor and a PhD peer partner
• Funded attendance at one Africa Evidence Summit
• Alumni membership of the Network of Impact Evaluation Researchers in Africa (NIERA), with access to pilot and catalyst grant funding

What you'll do:

• Audit UC Berkeley courses in person, or one MIT MicroMasters course online if Non-Resident
• Join CEGA workshops on research transparency, cost-effectiveness analysis, qualitative methods and communications
• Develop a research project from your proposal or policy statement
• Present your work at Berkeley and, for Resident fellows, at campuses such as UC Santa Cruz, University of Chicago, UC Davis and Stanford
• Commit 40 hours a week (Resident) or 15 to 20 hours a week (Non-Resident) for four months, in Fall 2027 or Spring 2028

Key dates:

• Webinar information session: December 2, 2026, 4 PM GMT
• Applications close: January 17, 2027, 5 PM GMT
• Application review: January 18 to February 7, 2027
• First round interviews: February 8 to 12, 2027
• Final interviews: February 22 to 26, 2027
• Final selection notified: March 1 to 12, 2027
• Fellowship runs Fall 2027 (August to December) or Spring 2028 (January to May)

More information:

• Full RFA (PDF): https://cega.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/CEGA-Fellowship-Program_-2027-RFA.pdf
• Questions: global-networks-cega@berkeley.edu

• Be from an East African or West African country and have completed at least secondary school at an African institution
• Resident (in person) fellows must be from a J-1 visa eligible country: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles or Uganda (list may change with US rules)
• Non-Resident (online) places give priority to Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe
• At least a Master's degree, currently enrolled in a PhD, or a PhD completed within 8 years, in a social science discipline
• Plan to return to an institution in East or West Africa after the fellowship
• Practitioner Track (7 places): work for an NGO, think tank or government ministry in East or West Africa and actively use evidence in your work
• Academic Track (4 places): be a doctoral student or hold a staff position at a university or research institution
• Fluent written and spoken English
• Apply with a 1 page personal statement, a 2 page CV, a 2 page policy statement or research proposal on CEGA's template, two references, and a leave approval or support letter from your supervisor
• No age limit