Opportunities

Many of you may remember a lecture we recently hosted given by Dr Daniel Mograbi from Brazil: Exploring self-awareness through neuroscience: studies with clinical groups and psychoactive substances.

The Mograbi Lab, based in Rio, Brazil have a postdoc position available to focus on psychoactive substances and self-awareness.

The fellowship is for one year.

It pays R$5200 monthly (roughly R200 000 for the full year), sufficient to live in Rio as a single student. Although the fellowship does not include travel costs, Dr Mograbi has kindly offered to cover the SA-Brazil-SA airfare with some of his other funding.

The ideal start date would be in March, but they can be flexible in terms of the arrival date, with the possibility of starting work remotely for the first few months.

No previous research experience with psychoactive substances is needed, but ideally someone with a solid methods background and experience in studies with humans. 

Candidates should send a CV and information on previous research work to danielmograbi@puc-rio.br.

Please share widely with anyone that may be interested.

Supervisor: Dr Caroline Ross
Start date: February 2026
Duration: 2 years
Funding: National Research Foundation, R320,000 per year

About the role

Dr Caroline Ross invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in bioinformatics. The fellow will lead analyses of next generation sequencing datasets to study gene regulation in various human diseases.

Key responsibilities

• Design and execute analysis pipelines for whole genome sequencing, RNA-seq, de novo and reference-guided transcriptome assembly, and Hi-C data
• Integrate multi-omics datasets to generate testable hypotheses
• Write clean, reproducible code and maintain version-controlled repositories
• Prepare figures, reports, and manuscripts, and present findings at group and departmental meetings
• Contribute to mentoring of students and to an open, collaborative lab culture

Qualifications and skills

• PhD in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genomics, Computer Science, or a closely related field, awarded or to be awarded by the start date
• High competency in programming in R, Python, or Java
• Demonstrated experience with NGS data analysis, including WGS and RNA-seq
• Familiarity with transcriptome assembly and Hi-C analysis
• Proficiency with Linux environments, workflow tools, and version control

What we offer

• Fully funded postdoctoral fellowship for two years
• Opportunity to drive high-impact projects with access to institutional HPC resources
• Supportive mentorship and professional development, including publishing and grant writing

How to apply

Email a single PDF to Dr Caroline Ross at caro.ross@uct.ac.za with the subject line Postdoc Application, Bioinformatics. Include:

1. A one-page cover letter outlining fit and availability
2. CV with publication list and contact details of two referees
3. One or two representative publications or preprints

Universitat Pompu Fabra (Barcelona) is opening applications for the Dorcas Muthoni PhD Fellowship, a unique program supporting African women in ICT-related research.

What's offered?

• 4-year fully funded PhD contract in ICT (AI, Networks, Multimedia, Bio/Neuro-Computing, etc.)
• Competitive salary & relocation support
• Full tuition covered
• Research and teaching experience at a top European university

Who can apply?

• Women of African nationality (without a prior PhD)
• Must hold a degree qualifying for the UPF ICT PhD Programme.
• Good English level (B2)
• Not resident in Spain for >12 months in the last 3 years

Timeline

• Applications: Sept 1, 2025 – Jan 15, 2026
• Results: Feb 20, 2026
• Program start: Oct 2026

More Info

All the information can be found here: https://www.upf.edu/web/phd-engineering/dorcas-muthoni-phd

For any inquiries, contact: phd.engineering@upf.edu

As part of their Wellcome Research Development Programme, the EthicsLab invite proposals for Catalyst Grants to provide modest support for research projects lasting 6-12 months. These grants are designed to spark new ideas, sustain ongoing work, or help projects grow toward greater impact - offering the flexibility to support both exploratory studies and more developed projects.

Find the submission form here

And subscribe to their mailing list here

More info: ethicslab@uct.ac.za

As part of their Wellcome Research Development Programme, the EthicsLab invite proposals for academic residencies for Africa-based scholars to join them for up to three months to work at the intersection of African humanities and technology (and open to suggestions). The costs of flights, accommodation, and a small per diem to cover expenses is included.

Find the submission form here

And subscribe to their mailing list here

More info: ethicslab@uct.ac.za 

As part of their Wellcome Research Development Programme, the EthicsLab invite proposals for academic retreats to co-host with them on one of the topics below. Meetings would last 3 to 4 days, be fully-funded and have up to 15 South African, other African, or international participants. 

We are particularly interested in proposals on the following non-exhaustive list of possible themes: 

• Power and order: Technology as a political and ideological project
• Climate justice and planetary ethics
• The political economy of emerging technologies
• Digital colonialism, imperialism, and decolonisation
• Data justice
• Humanism, posthumanism, and transhumanism in African thought.
• Relationality and moral status in African theory.

Find the submission form here

And subscribe to their mailing list here

More info: ethicslab@uct.ac.za 

The EthicsLab use their Webinar Series as a platform for sharing ideas and sparking conversations on the ethics of emerging technologies. We invite you to shape the program by:

• Proposing yourself as a speaker: Share your work, experiences, or insights.
• Suggesting others: Tell us who you’d like to hear from and what questions matter most.

They are particularly interested in proposals on the following non-exhaustive list of possible themes: 

• Power and order: Technology as a political and ideological project
• Climate justice and planetary ethics
• The political economy of emerging technologies
• Digital colonialism, imperialism, and decolonisation
• Data justice
• Humanism, posthumanism, and transhumanism in African thought.
• Relationality and moral status in African theory.

Find the submission form here

And subscribe to their mailing list here

More info: ethicslab@uct.ac.za

The Fellows-to-Faculty Award program supports talented early career scientists by facilitating their transition into tenure-track faculty positions. The focus of this program is the $600,000 USD three-year faculty research grant. Additionally, fellows engage with a community of investigators and receive mentoring and peer support during their transition.

The Simons Foundation’s Autism & Neuroscience division offers the program to nurture new talent and to broaden the community of scientists contributing to the scientific missions of our programs. We drive innovation and collaboration by supporting scientists with a diverse mix of minds, backgrounds and experiences.

This request for applications (RFA) is intended for Ph.D. and/or M.D.-holding scientists currently in mentored research training positions who intend to seek tenure-track research faculty positions during the upcoming academic job cycle. Applicants must have a scientific vision for their future independent laboratory that advances the mission of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) or Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain (SCPAB).

More info here.

We are pleased to invite all healthcare professionals and medical students, as well as any neuroscientists working in the epilepsy space, to the Epilepsy Training in Adult Medicine (ETAM) workshop taking place on 4 January 2026 at the Neuroscience Institute / Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. 

This workshop forms part of a broader three-day ETAM programme (12–14 January 2026), an initiative supported by an ILAE EPI-ACT Grant to strengthen epilepsy care across South Africa. The overall course aims to upskill clinicians at the first point of contact for people with seizures, ensuring earlier recognition, improved management, and better outcomes for individuals living with epilepsy. For non-clinicians it will help with translatability of knowledge. 

While the first two days are dedicated to training a selected group of future ETAM faculty from across Africa, the final day (14 January) is open to all healthcare professionals and medical students. The newly trained faculty will lead short lectures, interactive small-group workshops, real-world case discussions, and evidence-based debates designed to build confidence in managing adults with epilepsy in acute and non-acute settings.

You will find full details in the flyer attached, including registration categories and pricing. Lunch and coffee are included for all attendees.

To join us, please register via the QR code on the flyer, or click on the link below:

Register for the ETAM workshop

Early registration is recommended as spaces are limited.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Sarah Jacobs at etam@ilaesa.org.