An annual RuDASA conference has been organised almost every year since 1996, and attracts a range of rural health professionals from all over the country. The conference is a much-anticipated, vibrant forum which combines a mixture of sessions ranging from clinical skills updates for and by a wide range of health professionals to emotive discussions and workshops on issues such as justice and equity.
Jobs and Announcements
Rural Doctors Association of South Africa (RuDASA)
23-26 September 2015, Mpumalanga, South Africa
9th Action Learning, Action Research (ALARA) and 13th Participatory Action Research World Congress, Pretoria, South Africa, 4-7 November
Final date for submission of abstracts: 12 May 2015
The theme of this World Congress is a challenge to Action Learning / Action Research practitioners the world over, whether working in resource rich or more socio-economically challenged contexts, to explain how they are contributing to the creation of a fairer world. Abstracts should be emailed to conferencepl@gmail.com. Abstracts should be 250 words max, typed in single space Arial 12 using the following headings as a guide:
Background: an overview of the issue under discussion, the problem the research addresses and the purpose and objective of the research
Methods: the study period / setting / location, study design, study population, data collection and methods of analysis used. Results: the findings / outcome of the study. Please summarize any specific results.
Conclusions: the significance of findings / outcomes of the study and future implications of the results.
Call for applications for CODESRIA Textbook Programme
Deadline for submission of applications: 26 August 2015
The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is pleased to announce its programme for the publication of textbooks for use in African universities. The programme is aimed at making available to teachers and students textbooks that are adapted to the African context and the research and learning environment on the continent. African researchers are invited to submit their textbook manuscripts to the Council. This programme is for senior scholars with a proven track record of academic achievement and a demonstrable knowledge of the domain in which they wish to produce a textbook. In selecting proposals, the Council will lay emphasis on the value which is likely to be added by the manuscript. Proposals can be submitted by single authors or by a team of contributors. Each textbook can be organised around a discipline, a body of disciplines, or a specific theme. The textbooks will cover the African continent, a sub-region or a specific country.
Public Health Association of South Africa (PHASA) Conference
7-9 October, 2015, Durban, South Africa
With 2015 being the target date for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, the conference will provide an opportunity to reflect on the challenges faced by South Africa and Africa in trying to achieve the MDGs. The focus of the conference though will be on moving forward and identifying potential solutions both within and outside the health system in order to improve the health status of our population. This is reflected in the theme of conference “Health and Sustainable Development: The Future”. The 2015 PHASA Conference will be more interactive than previous PHASA conferences. A panel debate involving politicians, civil society and academics is set to be one of the highlights of the 2015 PHASA Conference. There will be a greater media and social media presence at the 2015 PHASA Conference ensuring that research findings and key issues reach a broader audience.
Public health governance in Africa, November 12-13, 2015, Windhoek, Namibia
Application deadline: May 31, 2015
The ongoing Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak has brought to the fore many themes that often rise to the surface in debates on public health in Africa. Many of these issues, which had come up at the height of the HIV/AIDS pandemic are being reharshed with new undertones and inflections. They include questions of global inequalities and their impact on public health in developing countries, the challenges of public healthcare provision and problems of social welfare and social security systems in developing countries and the intricacies of intra and inter-state relations in the face of healthcare challenges. Through its conference on the theme ‘Public health governance in Africa’ CODESRIA wishes to seize on opportunities for debate presented by the ongoing EVD epidemic to rekindle wider conversations about public health governance in Africa. While acknowledging the biological dimension of diseases and the systems that are (supposed to be) put in place to deal with them at a societal level, this conference will deliberately seek to insert conversations about these in broader discussions concerning economics, politics, culture and spirituality. CODESRIA invites abstracts from scholars and practitioners that are interested in participating in this conference. Authors of abstracts selected should be ready to submit full papers by 31st August 2015.
All documents should be sent by email to grp@codesria.sn. Please use the subject line ‘Governance Research Program’ when sending your email.
Sexual violence research initiative 4th international conference 2015
Stellenbosch, South Africa, 14-17 September 2015
The forum brings together researchers, gender activists, funders, policy makers, service providers, practitioners and survivors from around the world and will showcase innovation to end sexual violence, intimate partner violence and child abuse, and strengthen responses to survivors in low and middle income countries. The SVRI Forum is a key platform for sharing research, innovation and networking. SVRI Forum 2015 will focus debate on the following key questions: What are the intersections of different forms of gender-based and other forms of violence across the lifespan and why do they matter? What social norms are related to sexual violence and intimate partner violence, child abuse and neglect and how do we change them? How should we evaluate social norm change interventions and other forms of prevention? How can we integrate prevention and responses to violence into other sectors including health, education, social development, sports and justice sectors? If we know it works, what does it cost and how do we scale up effective programs? What works to prevent or respond to sexual violence in conflict, post conflict and humanitarian settings?
UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences
Closing date: 30 June 2015
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) – Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences rewards the projects and activities of an individual, individuals, institutions, other entities or non-governmental organisations for scientific research in the life sciences, which have led to improving the quality of human life. The Prize encourages research as well as the establishment and development of networks of centres of excellence in the life sciences. Candidates shall have made significant research contribution to the life sciences to enhance the quality of human life. The prize winners, maximum three, shall be selected by the Director-General of UNESCO on the basis of the assessments and recommendations made to her by an international jury. The nomination form should be completed in English or French only, and should reach UNESCO no later than 30 June 2015.
Call for Applications: 2016 Small Grants Programme for Thesis Writing
Deadline for Applications: 30 April 2016
The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) has announced the twenty-seventh session of its Small Grants Programme for Thesis Writing. The grants serve as part of the Council’s contribution to the development of the social sciences in Africa, and the continuous renewal and strengthening of research capacities in African universities, through the funding of primary research conducted by postgraduate students. Hence, candidates whose applications are successful are encouraged to use the resources provided under the grants to cover the cost of their fieldwork, the acquisition of books and documents, the processing of data which they have collected and the printing of their dissertations. The CODESRIA Small Grants Programme is opened to students currently registered in PhD in African universities, and preparing their research in all social science fields and other disciplines involving social or economic analysis. The research proposal should be based on an innovative problematic which sets out the originality of the theme in relation to on-going research in the same area. Candidates’ research proposals should each contain a clear statement of the research hypotheses, a critical review of the existing literature, the methodology to be used, the expected results of the work, and a detailed work plan and timetable. Grants are awarded solely on merit. All applicants are required to use the application forms designed by CODESRIA, accessible via their website.
Call for Papers: Writing South Africa Now: a Colloquium, 16-17 June 2016,
Deadline: 4 March 2016
In 2013, it was reported that more than two-thirds of South Africa’s citizens now live in the country’s sprawling urban areas. The Gauteng region alone saw its population swell to some 12 million, an increase of more than 30% in 10 years and more than double the national average. Such statistics, while significant, are not in themselves very instructive. The everyday impact of South Africa’s urbanisation in the years since apartheid, the daily struggles the the poor urban infrastructure imposes, the expanding social and spatial inequalities that fragment the city, and the architecture of anxiety that determines so many ordinary urban habits, are better understood through the narratives crafted by the city’s writers, filmmakers, performers and visual artists, In the imaginative writing of the city, established authors such as Ivan Vladislavic, William Kentridge, and Willie Bester contribute as much to our understanding of the South African city as the emerging voices of photographers and filmmakers such as Mikhael Subotzky, Ramadan Suleman, and Oliver Hermanus. Moreover, like the graffiti commonly daubed on the M1 underpass in Newtown, Johannesburg and the fiction titles that line the shelves of Cape Town’s Book Lounge, the form these stories adopt and the networks through which they find expression are as diverse and uneven as the cityscapes themselves. Now in it’s fourth year, Writing South Africa Now calls for academic papers that contribute to the ongoing writing of the South African city. For academic papers, send an abstract of 300 words and brief biography to the organisers by 4th March. For artistic contributions, send an outline of the proposed contribution of examples of work, along with a brief biography to organisers as soon as possible.
Coursera: Systems Thinking in Public Health
Johns Hopkins University: Next course enrolment ends May 2
This course provides an introduction to systems thinking and systems models in public health. It requires 4 weeks of study, 4-5 hours/week, as an online course. Problems in public health and health policy tend to be complex with many actors, institutions and risk factors involved. If an outcome depends on many interacting and adaptive parts and actors the outcome cannot be analyzed or predicted with traditional statistical methods. Systems thinking is a core skill in public health and helps health policymakers build programs and policies that are aware of and prepared for unintended consequences. An important part of systems thinking is the practice to integrate multiple perspectives and synthesize them into a framework or model that can describe and predict the various ways in which a system might react to policy change. Systems thinking and systems models devise strategies to account for real world complexities.