The Sue White Fund for Africa provides funding to enable students to study for a PhD at Cranfield University in a topic related to Professor White’s research, and is financed by a generous donation to the University made by Professor White through her estate.
The fund supports projects in areas of research into water and sanitation with special preference for studies on catchment processes and water management. The projects involve fieldwork in Africa, with preference given to studies in Ghana, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi and Tanzania – all countries which Professor White had strong links with. The students spend the majority of their time based in Africa and the first two months of their registration at Cranfield.
The fund covers PhD students’ fees and bursary at £17,000 per annum for three years only. It also covers the cost of on-campus accommodation for the first two months of registration, travel/accommodation expenses to enable the student to attend one international conference, and, if required, the costs of one return airfare to enable the student to attend the viva voce examination and make an end-of-project presentation to the fund’s management group. Eligible students have at least a first class or upper second class undergraduate degree. The fund also pays reasonable bench fees to an African university if needed, as well as student membership for one professional association. Transferable skills training are made available to funded students through the WiRE Centre for Doctoral Training.
Additional project costs such as travel, consumables, equipment etc are covered by cash contributions from other sources (for example, by an industrial project sponsor or collaborator). Applications have been evaluated by a panel comprising senior staff from Cranfield Water Science Institute.
