WACCI PhD Plant Breeding Scholarships

WACCI PhD Plant Breeding Scholarships

The WACCI Ph.D Programs

Eight students per year will be admitted over a period of five years in the first phase of the programs Each student will follow a 5 year Programs leading to the award of a Ph.D (Plant Breeding) upon successful completion.

The Programs consists of two stages : two years of academic study at the University of Ghana and three years of field research at the students research station/university in his/her home country.

The course work and research will focus on the following West Africa food crops

Cereals : maize, rice, sorghum, millet

Root and tubers : cassava and sweet potato

Legumes : cowpea and groundnut

Vegetables : tomato and pepper.

Geographic Focus

West Africa with initial emphasis on Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

Selection Criteria/Funding

Scholarships are advertised extensively in all participating countries and applications are reviewed by a panel of local academics.

Forty students arriving in cohorts of eight over five academic years will receive support from this innovative plant breeding Ph.D Programs.

The WACCI Programs is specifically for full-time, professional plant breeders who will make their careers breeding new cultivars of food crops.

Prospective students must have :

An MSc/MPhil in Plant Breeding, Plant Genetics, Plant Pathology, Horticulture, Crop Science, Applied Entomology, Applied Nematology or equivalent degree.

A position as an agricultural research scientist in a national research institute or university in the potential students home country is also essential, so that the student can return to his/her home country to conduct the field research for the PhD thesis.

Applicants should be under the age of 40.

Applicants who have not been instructed in English at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels must have a test score of at least 550 (paper test) or 213 (computer test) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

For more information on the TOEFL test, please contact the United States Information Service. (USIS) at the USA Embassy or Consulate in your home country or contact TOEFL directly at the following address :

P.O.Box 6155, Princeton,
New Jersey, 08541.6155,
U.S.A.,
E-mail : toefl@ets.org,
Website : www.toefl.org.Application Form :

Please download and complete the University Applications Forms graduate application forms and send together with academic transcripts and 3 references (one of which should be your supervisor for your MSc thesis) :

By electronic mail to : (admissions@wacci.edu.gh and edanquah@wacci.edu.gh)

Or airmail addressed to : West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement,University of Ghana, Legon,School of Agriculture,College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences, PMB 30, LEGON, ACCRA, GHANA

Envelopes should be marked WACCI Application.

Successful applicants must be available to begin their studies at the University of Ghana in January 2011.

You can find more information about the Programs on the PhD Programs page Or send us an email to info@wacci.edu.gh for any further enquiry.

Application Deadline : 30 June 2010