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African Doctoral Academy

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​Celebrating Excellence in Doctoral Education (2009-2021)

The African Doctoral Academy (ADA), based at Stellenbosch University and located within the Africa Centre for Scholarship, has been providing doctoral scholarship across Africa since 2009. Its establishment is a direct response to the need for the accelerated production of quality doctoral graduates within Africa. The ADA's bi-annual, Summer and Winter Doctoral Schools, as well as short-form Spring and Autumn Schools take place annually. The Schools include high-impact research and methodology training for prospective and current doctoral candidates, their supervisors and researchers from a variety of fields and across different phases of the PhD journey. 

The model

The ADA serves as a unique resource to strengthen higher education and research in Africa by leveraging Stellenbosch University's established bilateral and multilateral partnerships and networks from across Africa and beyond. 

Since the ADA's inception at Stellenbosch Univer​sity more than ten years ago, the principal mechanism for doctoral support has been its ADA Doctoral Schools in research methodology and academic development. At these events, leading scholars from international, South African universities, including Stellenbosch University present short courses to doctoral candidates, supervisors and researchers. Topics such as research designs and methodology, academic preparedness, postgraduate supervision, teaching and learning in Higher Education, academic writing and publishing, research ethics, grant writing and cross-cutting research skills such as proposal writing and project management are presented. The Short Courses, accredited through Stellenbosch University are developed with relevance for all phases of the Doctoral Journey.  


​Partnerships and key achievement
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More about the ADA>