Moving Towards Scale: CEGA’s Fellowships Go Virtual
CEGA Global Networks Senior Program Associate Chelsea Downs highlights how CEGA developed the Non-Resident Fellowship, a virtual version of our flagship residential fellowship, and introduces the Fall 2021 Non-Resident Fellows.
CEGA’s Global Networks program turns ten this year, an opportune moment to reflect on our initiatives and expand our vision of building the research capacity of low-and middle-income country (LMIC) based scholars to become knowledge-generators and leaders. COVID-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions have forced CEGA to consider new ways to deepen our inclusion efforts, in part through virtual activities, in pursuit of this goal. Our Spring 2020 EASST and BRAC fellows had their Berkeley-based fellowships cut short, and while they returned to their home countries last March, they continued the experience remotely with extensive virtual support from CEGA. Although the fellows (and staff) were initially disappointed, the transition was as seamless as it could have been — sparking the idea for a fully remote fellowship.
CEGA’s flagship residential fellowship for LMIC-based scholars is immersive, fast-paced, and highly interactive, allowing fellows the opportunity for extensive networking, “learning by osmosis,” and engagement with in-person coursework and training. While impossible to fully replicate the experience of the in-person fellowship at UC Berkeley, our team has developed and launched the CEGA Non-Resident Fellowship with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, which seeks to achieve similar outcomes and serve as a complement to the residential program. Like our residential fellowships (offered through the East Africa Social Science Translation Collaborative, Development Impact West Africa, and the BRAC-CEGA Learning Collaborative), our Non-Resident Fellowship seeks to equip early career African social scientists with the skills needed to carry out rigorous evaluations of economic development programs. The Non-Resident Fellowship allows CEGA to scale our training and mentorship opportunities for talented African scholars by reducing the time and money that the residential model requires, and offers a more flexible option for those who may not be able to travel or leave their families or jobs for extended periods of time.
How It Works
The Non-Resident Fellowship is built around four foundational pillars of CEGA’s residential fellowship program, with activities adapted for a virtual format:
- Close mentorship on research designs
- Development of a diverse, technical toolkit in impact evaluation
- Building the “soft skills’’ necessary to thrive in global research communities
- Cultivating new, durable networks
We piloted this model in Spring 2021 with our first non-resident fellows Laura Barasa and Mary Nantongo. Laura has engaged with EASST activities since 2018, but was waiting for a fellowship opportunity that was more flexible.She explained that “the non-residential fellowship offered me an opportunity to build my research capacity without the need to travel. I believe that this arrangement is more inclusive as it may increase female participation.” Mary also expressed that the Non-Resident Fellowship provided an opportunity to build her expertise in impact evaluation, forge relevant networks, and enhance her research with more flexibility.
In the pilot round, some activities were easier to facilitate than others. For example, giving non-resident fellows access to high quality, live courses was aided by the launch of the Remote Student Exchange in January 2021, a collaboration between Stockholm University and CEGA that allows students from LMICs to participate remotely in online university classes around the world. As much of the world continued remote work, virtual mentorship from a CEGA affiliated faculty member, a PhD student, and CEGA staff was a natural adaptation.
Alternatively, network building has been challenging via Zoom and email, but was still possible to achieve. When asked about the most valuable aspect of the Non-Resident Fellowship, Spring 2021 Fellow Laura Barasa said “Networks — the chance to meet new people doing similar work, that’s how I met my co-author.” Moreover, like our resident fellows, non-resident fellows also continue their engagement and networking post-fellowship. They are invited to join the Network of Impact Evaluation Researchers in Africa (NIERA), come together annually at our summit in East Africa, and have access to CEGA’s annual research grant competitions, events, seminars, training workshops, and more.
The pandemic has expanded possibilities beyond borders and we are excited to continue adapting the Non-Resident Fellowship in the coming years. We recently competitively selected five non-resident fellows for Fall 2021 and Spring 2022. CEGA is optimistic about the impact of the Non-Resident Fellowship, as early feedback shows promising results. Like other capacity building initiatives, however, it will take time to evaluate them. Stay tuned for updates, and in meantime, meet our Fall 2021 Non-Resident Fellows:
Chinenye Bembir
Current Position: PhD candidate and Research fellow of the World Health Organization/Tropical Diseases Research (WHO/TDR) Implementation Research scheme.
Home Country: Nigeria
Research Interests: Epidemiology of infectious diseases, neglected tropical diseases, maternal and child health, and implementation science.
Faculty Mentor: Marcella Alsan
Ester Agasha
Current Position: PhD candidate in Microfinance at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), Uganda and Lecturer at Makerere University Business School
Home Country: Uganda
Research Interests: Microfinance, financial inclusion, and poverty reduction.
Faculty Mentor: Shanthi Manian
