Research Fellow (3) job at Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI)

Job Code: RFW003
No of Position: 3
Station: Mulago
Classification: Scholar
Duration: 12 Months
Reports to: Capacity Building Scientist

General Summary
ACCEPT-Africa Targeted Research Awards for Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness

Background
The African Consortium for Clinical Evidence, Pharmacology and Translational Research (ACCEPT-Africa) is a multidisciplinary, multi-country research consortium under the Africa Pandemic Sciences Collaborative (EPSILON-1). Led by the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI), Makerere University, Uganda, ACCEPT-Africa brings together research institutions and investigators from Uganda, Tanzania (Kibong’oto Infectious Diseases Hospital), the Democratic Republic of Congo (Catholic University of Bukavu), South Africa (University of Cape Town), and Italy (University of Turin) to strengthen Africa’s capacity to develop, evaluate, and deploy medical countermeasures for epidemic- and pandemic-prone diseases.

ACCEPT-Africa integrates expertise in early-phase clinical trials, clinical pharmacology, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD), implementation science, infectious diseases, laboratory sciences, regulatory science, and epidemic preparedness.

The consortium is guided by three strategic objectives:

1. Advance the clinical development of medical countermeasures targeting priority pathogens;
2. Strengthen epidemic–pandemic research ecosystems; and
3. Build sustainable capacity for early-phase clinical trials targeting priority pathogens.

To advance these objectives, ACCEPT-Africa invites applications from individual researchers for Targeted Research Awards addressing priority scientific and operational gaps relevant to medical countermeasure development and epidemic clinical research.

Purpose of the Call
The ACCEPT-Africa Targeted Research Awards will provide catalytic funding for focused, high-impact and implementation-oriented research projects that can generate preliminary evidence, address critical knowledge or methodological gaps, strengthen existing research platforms, and contribute to the development and evaluation of medical countermeasures for priority pathogens.

A total of three awards will be available, with funding of up to US$15,000 per project for an implementation period of up to 12 months.

The call is specifically intended to support research that can leverage existing ACCEPT-Africa platforms, cohorts, protocols, laboratory capabilities, partnerships and research infrastructure to achieve clearly defined outputs within the award period.

Applicants must submit a proposal addressing one of the three priority research areas below.

Priority Research Areas

Priority Area 1: Pharmacokinetics of drugs used for diseases of outbreak potential

Priority Area 2: Biomarkers and diagnostics for drug development which could be viral, immunological or other markers that can be used to assess treatment response or severity of highly infectious diseases of outbreak potential

Priority Area 3: Social and Behavioral Research on Epidemic Clinical Trials

Funding Available

ACCEPT-Africa intends to make three competitive research awards, subject to satisfactory scientific review and availability of funds.

Maximum Award

Each successful project may receive funding of up to US$15,000.

Applicants are expected to submit realistic and well-justified budgets directly linked to the proposed research activities and outputs.

Eligible costs may include research personnel support, laboratory reagents and consumables, sample processing and analysis, data collection, participant-related research costs, field activities, data management and analysis, stakeholder/community engagement directly related to the research, and dissemination of findings.

Major capital equipment and costs not directly attributable to delivery of the proposed research should generally not constitute a substantial proportion of the requested budget.

Application Requirements

Applicants should submit a concise application package containing:

1. CV and personal statement (use the NIH template)
2. 2 letters of recommendations (ACCEPT-Africa site PI and one proposed mentor)
3. Proposal (download the template.docx)
4. Budget (maximum US$15,000)

Key Timelines

Applications must be received by 16th October 2026. Late or substantially incomplete applications will not be considered.

Key Responsibilities
Successful applicants will be expected to:

• Implement the approved research within 12 months;
• Achieve agreed milestones and deliverables;
• Participate in relevant ACCEPT-Africa scientific meetings and research forums;
• Participate in the monthly catalyst groups
• Present twice a year at the trainees’ evaluation meetings
• Provide periodic technical and financial progress reports on iBRDGE;
• Comply with consortium research governance and data-management requirements;
• Produce at least one substantive scientific output, such as a manuscript, protocol/SOP, technical report, policy/implementation brief or conference abstract; and
• Develop, where appropriate, a pathway for translating findings into a larger study, clinical trial, medical countermeasure development program, policy or practice.

Authorship, data access, intellectual property, sample governance and publication arrangements will be managed in accordance with applicable institutional and ACCEPT-Africa policies.

Academic Qualifications

• Masters in any biomedical or Health Sciences related field
• Enrolled in a post-graduate degree in any biomedical or Health Sciences related field

Person Specification
Applicants must:

• Be affiliated with a recognized university, research institution, healthcare institution, public health agency or other eligible scientific institution
• Demonstrate relevant expertise or a strong research track record/potential in the selected priority area
• Demonstrate access to, or a credible pathway for accessing the facilities, platforms, samples, populations, datasets or other resources necessary to undertake the proposed research
• Demonstrate the ability to complete the proposed project within 12 months
• Identify an institutional mechanism capable of receiving and administering the research award
• Comply with applicable institutional, national and ACCEPT-Africa scientific, ethical, regulatory, biosafety, data and research governance requirements; and
• Be willing to collaborate with ACCEPT-Africa investigators and relevant national, regional and institutional partners.

Researchers and investigators seeking to establish independent research projects, are strongly encouraged to apply.

Collaborative proposals are encouraged; however, the application must identify one individual researcher as the Principal Applicant and award lead.

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