The Global Health EDCTP3 Training Networks will implement training programmes through consortia of clinical research institutions, academia, industry, businesses (including SMEs) and other socio-economic actors from different countries across SSA and Europe, with the objective to strengthen the health research systems of the SSA countries with the highest disease burden. Proposals should include training programmes for researchers, scientists, clinicians and/or other public health professionals in the area of infectious disease research, with practical field research experience.

The training programme should include two levels of fellows to be trained by experienced researchers, where the higher level provides training and mentorship for the lower one:

– Early-Stage Career Fellowships to support researchers and other members of clinical research teams from SSA to acquire specific skills in clinical research through placements in pharmaceutical companies, contract research organisations (CROs), clinical or academic affiliated research organisations and/or product development partnerships (PDPs). This category covers both hands-on-training apprenticeship and Master and PhD training arrangements where the candidates can spend part of their training and supervision at a more established or complementary institution with skill sets, expertise and or competences not available at the fellows’ host African institution(s).

Target individuals should meet all the following criteria:

1. Citizens or residents from a SSA country with a higher infectious disease burden than the country of the host organisation;
2. Exceptionally, be citizens from non-SSA country willing to relocate to a SSA country with higher infectious disease burden;
3. Preference to citizens or residents from a SSA low-income countries with lower clinical research capacity[3];
4. Be either postgraduate MD, MSc, or PhD candidate, in an area relevant to infectious diseases or clinical staff with experience in infectious diseases employed for the last 12 months in an organisation with a registered legal entity in SSA;

– Mid-Career Fellowships to support researchers and key members of clinical research teams from SSA in their mid-career to develop their clinical research skills. The objective is to promote career development and retention of post-doctoral clinical researchers in SSA, to equip the fellows with the ability to establish themselves as independent researchers and with the skills to initiate and manage their own research at host organisations in the SSA countries with the highest disease burden.

Target individuals should meet all the following criteria:

1. Be citizens or residents from a SSA country with higher infectious disease burden;
2. Exceptionally, be citizens from non-SSA country willing to relocate to a SSA country with higher infectious disease burden;
3. Preference to citizens or residents from a SSA low-income country with lower clinical research capacity20;
4. MD/PhD related to infectious diseases or clinical research or a medical graduate with at least five years’ relevant research experience;
5. At least one publication in an international peer-reviewed journal.

Proposals must demonstrate the following:

• A high-quality training programme related to clinical research or implementation research on infectious diseases of importance in SSA, including One Health;
• An open, fair, and transparent procedure for selecting the fellows coming from different geographical regions of SSA, based on quality and with appropriate gender balance, with an active open promotion of the vacancies specifically addressed to female candidates, as well as to candidates from French speaking and Portuguese speaking countries to ensure that candidates from these groups can be well represented;
• Robust mentorship mechanisms to support the fellows through their training period up to completion;
• A robust monitoring and evaluation mechanism used to assess the career progression of the fellows, the impact of the training programme in the region and compile lessons learnt that can be used to inform future training programmes;
• The training programme must be conducted in SSA, in collaboration with relevant local or regional organisations such as National Public Health Institutes (and/or similar agencies), Ministries of Health, Research Councils and other relevant institutions;
• Whenever relevant, training programmes should expose fellows to collaboration with regional and international organisations, e.g., Africa CDC, AUDA-NEPAD, WHO-Afro, AVAREF and/or other organisations relevant for R&I;
• Training programmes should be designed with different training modules addressing also key transferable skills and competences concerning clinical research management including communication, ethical, regulatory, administrative, and financial aspects;
• Training programmes should include individual fellows training packages so that the fellows can deliver on their individual expected results;
• Proposals should also include support for meetings and conferences for the trainees to participate in the annual networking meetings, conferences and forums organised by relevant African organisations such as Africa CDC, EDCTP, WHO-Afro, AUDA-NEPAD, and other relevant events; etc.