ACEP recognises that the region as a whole lacks sufficient trained personnel to fully undertake all the projects envisioned by ACEP and other marine research programmes in the region. For this reason, we strongly encourage highly motivated young scientists to pursue higher degrees through the Programme with a view to actively participate in future research activities.

The Western Indian Ocean presents a wide range of exciting and promising research careers in the region. It is you, the postgraduate student, who will contribute most to the long-term vision of ACEP through your active involvement in the Programme during your studies and throughout your subsequent research career.

Policy and Eligibility Criteria

ACEP particularly encourages MSc and PhD level students. Student eligibility for acceptance and for ACEP sponsorship is dependent upon:

• applicants being acceptable to the University in which they plan to study  
• the chosen discipline having a relevance to ACEP
• acceptability by the NMC (National Management Committee) and the RMC (Regional Management Committee)
• the ability of ACEP to commit to:
  • a) tuition and other university fees and costs for the duration of the degree course
  • b) where applicable, travel and living expenses,
  • c) costs of fieldwork, which might be particularly expensive if they are dependent upon ships and submersibles
  • d) availability of infrastructure (including ships, boats, instrumentation etc) for the fieldwork given competing demands.

Students may register in any university within the region provided that they are acceptable to the appropriate faculty and department.  They may select as supervisors any person from the region and are encouraged to develop a supervisory committee which draws upon supervisors from different universities from within the region.

Selection Criteria and Process

Selection of students is likely to be fairly competitive, but the basis of selection would be that a suitably qualified student meets the requirements of the University and the faculties of that university.  Students should be citizens of ACEP partner countries (but see dispensations for foreign students below).  Students must to apply to the NMC providing:

• proof of acceptability to the university (i.e. they must meet the entry criteria of the university of their choice)
  a CV and transcripts of the university degrees held
  project proposals for a thesis, or the full curriculum for a degree by course work,
  a motivation for joining ACEP
  names of proposed supervisors and, if possible letters of support from such supervisors
  an indication of the level of financial support required
  an indication of the probability of committing themselves to two years of work with ACEP after qualifying.

The NMC of each country would either make a National decision to accept the student, if it has the resources to support that student, or alternatively refer it to the RMC, where collectively decisions would be made on which students from the region should receive funding. Ideally, a student’s research thesis and course work should fit into the ACEP framework and, thereby, contribute to the knowledge base being built by the programme and adding to the group of skilled persons on the programme.

Ideally, a student’s research thesis and course work should fit into the ACEP framework and, thereby, contribute to the knowledge base being built by the programme and adding to the group of skilled persons on the programme.

Levels of Funding and Costs

Acceptance will always depend on adequate funding being available. Where students compete for funds, their applications will be assessed in terms of the quality of the student as well as the merits of the proposal, which will be measured by its quality and the priorities set by the NMC and RMC.

The RMC needs to set levels of funding (scholarships) which students might expect for tuition and other study and living costs.  These would probably be different in each country, depending on the costs of universities and technical training colleges in those countries.  If a student opts to train in an ACEP country that is not their own, then travel and accommodation costs will have to be considered.

Student costs covered by ACEP in a successful application are:

• 1. Tuition, residence, examination and other fees paid to the academic institution and, if necessary, costs incurred to bring supervisors into the field
• 2. Field costs including instrumentation, boats, transport and sometimes casual assistant wages.

ACEP will consider raising funds to cover student projects of a particularly demanding financial nature, if management is given sufficient advance warning of such requirements to include them in the annual fund-raising strategy.

Foreign Students

Students from countries that are not African ACEP partners and will not necessarily remain to contribute to the local core of scientists, social scientists and educators are also welcome to apply for participation in ACEP.

They may register either at one of the universities within ACEP’s African partners or at overseas universities. Except under exceptional circumstances – which would be subject to ACEP assessment - their funding for university costs must be independent of ACEP, but ACEP might meet running and other costs associated with field or laboratory work where the project being undertaken is of direct benefit to achieving the goals of ACEP.

ACEP strongly believes that it is imperative that young scientists trained through the Programme are able to pursue active research careers in their chosen fields within the region and we are actively working to ensure that sufficient infrastructure is built to ensure this can happen.

If you are interested in studying through the Programme, please make a note of the criteria explained above, and forward a detailed application to us at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .