© Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa( CARTA) & University of Nairobi( UoN)
Some of the major funders behind CARTAs success include Wellcome Trust, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ford Foundation, British Council, Google. org, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency( SIDA), University of Gothenburg, and DAAD.
Prof. Fonn described the approach that CARTA is using to build a critical mass of researchers in the PhD pipeline. She indicated that CARTA uses concepts and methodologies from multiple theoretical perspectives to advance fundamental understanding of public and population health or / and solve real world problems. In addition to core research; CARTA builds critical thinking, multidisciplinary research capacities and active interventions to improve doctoral supervision. The CARTA faculty and fellows are drawn from multiple disciplines including medicine, sociology, demography, epidemiology, communication, engineering, lab sciences, etc. The approach is therefore anti hierarchical.
The CARTA PhD journey is summarized in the following steps as presented by Prof. Fonn;
1. Inter Joint Advanced Seminar( JAS) 1 – for 6 months. This process requires completion of the literature review and proposal followed by a seminar presentation at respective home universities. 2. INTER-JAS 2 covers data analysis, finalization of proposal and development of analytic skills, 3. JAS 2 covers managing and analyzing data and the process lasts for 6 months. 4. INTER-JAS 3 involves submission of thesis and preparation of a journal article which is then presented in a seminar. 5. JAS 3 involves interpretation and presentation of research findings 6. JAS 4 revolves around professional development
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CARTA’ s 2 nd Vice Chancellor’ s Meeting – Report of meeting proceedings – July 10-11, 2017