WACCBIP MASTER’S OPPORTUNITIES

The West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) at the University of
Ghana is accepting applications for Master’s programmes under the World Bank African Centre’s
of Excellence (ACE) Impact project (WACCBIP+NCDs) and other funded projects for aspiring
African scientists to work in an environment that supports high caliber research, promotes the
development of scientific leadership, and enables networking with other scientists throughout
Africa. WACCBIP supports a wide range of research activities and, in conjunction with its
international partners, provides a rigorous Master’s training programme.

Eligibility Criteria

1. Be an African national who holds a relevant Bachelor’s degree (at least a second class
lower division) in a relevant field of study.
2. Be interested in working on one of the following priority disease areas and research
themes:

Priority Diseases
Infectious diseases including:
• Protozoan pathogens – Malaria & Trypanosomiasis
• Fungal pathogens – Cryptococcosis, Candidiasis
• Helminths – Schistosomiasis, Filariasis, Soil-Transmitted Helminths
• Mycobacteria – Tuberculosis & Buruli ulcer
• Other Bacterial Pathogens – Gastro-intestinal and blood infections
• Viruses – HIV/AIDS, Ebola virus disease, Rotaviral Infections, Influenza, Dengue
fever, Lassa fever

Non-communicable diseases including:

• Cancers and their interactions with infectious diseases
• Hypertension
• Diabetes
• Other diseases related to mitochondrial dysfunction

Research themes:
• Human genetics
• Disease pathogenesis and immunogenetics
• Pathogen genomics/Bioinformatics
• Host-pathogen interactions
• Diagnostics
• Molecular epidemiology
• Drug and vaccine discovery for development

The successful fellows will be enrolled at the Department of Biochemistry, Cell and
Molecular Biology, University of Ghana, but with access to resources and facilities at all our
partner institutions.

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The successful Master’s fellow will be expected to:
- Conduct high quality research leading to the publication of at least 1 paper in a peer
reviewed journal
- Graduate with a University of Ghana Master’s degree in Biochemistry, Molecular
Biology, or Molecular Cell Biology of Infectious Diseases, depending on the research
theme.

The Master’s programme consists of one year of course work and one year of research, and
partial scholarships are for the research year, and will include: Tuition at the University of Ghana
- A monthly stipend
- Research supplies and reagents

Information on the WACCBIP programme can be found at http://waccbip.ug.edu.gh/

Interested applicants should apply through the University of Ghana graduate admissions
website: https://admission.ug.edu.gh/applying/, and select programmes under the
Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology.

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