Pauline Bakibinga Memorial Scholarship 2025
The Pauline Bakibinga Memorial Scholarship funds female master’s students in East Africa conducting digital health research, offering between USD 5,000 and 10,000 each year to cover research project costs specifically — not tuition. The 2025 cycle’s application deadline was September 29, 2025, and has closed.
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This scholarship runs as a defined five-year programme, awarding funding every year from 2024 through 2028, so a 2026 round is expected — but worth flagging directly: the deadline has already shifted once between cycles, from March 29, 2024, for the inaugural award to September 29, 2025, for the second. There’s no fixed calendar date to rely on year over year, so checking APHRC’s official career page directly closer to the time is more reliable than assuming a repeat date. This guide covers who the scholarship is built for, what it actually funds, and what to prepare ahead of the next call.
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About the Scholarship’s Origins
This scholarship exists because of one specific person’s career, and understanding that shapes what APHRC is actually looking for in applicants. Dr Pauline Bakibinga was a research scientist at the African Population and Health Research Center who joined as a postdoctoral fellow in 2013, straight out of her PhD at the University of Bergen, and went on to lead health systems research focused on strengthening health services in poor urban communities across Africa.
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Her specific contribution was pairing digital tools — including mobile phone-based health solutions — with community-level implementation, working directly alongside local healthcare workers and county health leaders rather than producing research at a distance from the communities it served. She published more than 40 academic papers and raised approximately USD 7 million in research funding over her career, and received the Tumani Corrah Award for Research Excellence in recognition of that work.
Alongside her research, she made a consistent practice of mentoring young women pursuing similar paths — which is precisely why this scholarship, established in 2022 following her death, targets female master’s students specifically working at the intersection of public health and digital innovation, rather than public health broadly. APHRC itself is a substantial, Africa-led research institution, having run over 100 projects across more than 35 countries from its Nairobi headquarters and Dakar regional office, giving this scholarship real institutional backing rather than being a small independent memorial fund.
Pauline Bakibinga Memorial Scholarship Summary
| Scholarship Name ⇒ | Pauline Bakibinga Memorial |
| Host Country ⇒ | East Africa |
| Study Level ⇒ | Master’s |
| Benefits ⇒ | USD 5,000–10,000 toward research project costs (not tuition) |
| Funded by ⇒ | African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) |
| Eligible Countries ⇒ | East Africa |
| Application Deadline ⇒ | 2025 cycle closed September 29, 2025. A 2026 round is expected as part of the programme’s confirmed 2024–2028 run, but the exact date has shifted between cycles — check APHRC’s official page directly |
What the Scholarship Covers
This is one of the more precisely scoped scholarships covered on ScholarWaka, and it’s worth being exact about what it does and doesn’t pay for:
- USD 5,000 to 10,000 per year, awarded to fund the costs of your research project specifically — data collection, tools, participant compensation, travel for fieldwork, and similar direct research expenses.
- Not tuition. This is stated explicitly and repeatedly by APHRC. If you’re looking for a scholarship to cover your master’s programme fees, this isn’t it — you need to already have secured funding or admission arrangements for tuition separately, and this award sits alongside that rather than replacing it.
- A defined five-year funding commitment from APHRC, running from 2024 through 2028, meaning this isn’t a one-off award but part of a sustained programme with a maximum of USD 10,000 available each year across that window.
Who Can Apply
- You must be female and currently reside in East Africa.
- You need to hold a completed undergraduate degree.
- You must already be admitted into a master’s degree programme in public health, or a closely related field, that specifically involves digital health.
- You need an approved research topic dealing with digital health innovations — a general public health research interest without a digital component doesn’t fit this scholarship’s specific focus.
- You must be registered at an African university — a master’s admission at an institution outside Africa doesn’t qualify, even if you meet every other criterion.
- Having IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval for your research, or at least proof that you’ve submitted for it, is explicitly named as an advantage, though not a strict requirement.
- Applicants affiliated with Mbarara University of Science and Technology or the Busoga Health Forum are specifically named as encouraged to apply, alongside applicants with prior digital health experience or a strong academic record — these strengthen an application rather than being mandatory conditions.
Documents to Prepare
Administered by the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), the Pauline Bakibinga Memorial Scholarship provides $5,000 to $10,000 annually to female East African scholars. The award specifically supports Master’s research costs (rather than tuition) in public health projects focusing on digital health innovations.
All supporting materials must be combined into a single, unified PDF file and emailed directly to [email protected] after completing the initial eligibility screening survey.
1. Motivation Essay (Strict 500-Word / 1-Page Limit):
- Core Content: Outline your personal motivation, academic background in public health, and long-term career vision.
- Strategic Focus: Explicitly demonstrate how your Master’s thesis incorporates digital health innovations (e.g., mHealth, health data analytics, telemedicine, or AI in healthcare) to solve pressing regional public health challenges.
2. Two Recommendation Letters (Strict 1-Page Maximum Each):
- Letter 1 (Academic Supervisor): Must come from your primary Master’s research supervisor or an academic mentor. It should address your research capacity, academic performance, and project feasibility.
- Letter 2 (Academic or Professional Referee): Issued by a second professor, former supervisor, or professional colleague who can vouch for your work ethic, integrity, and potential for leadership in digital health.
- Formatting: Both letters must be signed, officially dated, and presented on institutional letterhead.
3. Academic Certificates & Transcripts:
- Undergraduate Qualification: High-resolution scans of your official Bachelor’s degree certificate and complete semester-by-semester academic transcripts.
- Detail: Must clearly state grades earned, degree class awarded, and institutional grading keys. Certified English translations are required if issued in another language.
4. Proof of Master’s Degree Program Admission:
Requirement: Official conditional or unconditional admission letter into a Master’s program (such as Master of Public Health, Global Health, or Health Informatics) at an accredited university in Africa.
5. Institutional Review Board (IRB) Proof (Competitive Advantage):
Value: While not mandatory at the point of submission, providing proof of IRB/Ethics Committee approval or official proof that your research proposal has been submitted for IRB review gives your dossier a strong competitive edge during committee evaluation.
How to Apply — Step by Step
- Complete the short online survey first. This is a mandatory first step used to determine your basic eligibility before you’re able to submit anything else.
- Assemble every required document into a single PDF file — essay, both recommendation letters, academic certificates, proof of admission, and IRB evidence if you have it.
- Check formatting carefully before sending: each recommendation letter must be one page maximum, and your essay must not exceed 500 words. Applications that don’t meet these limits risk being disqualified on formatting alone.
- Email the completed PDF to [email protected], with the scholarship’s name included clearly in the subject line.
- Submit well before the deadline once the next call opens — APHRC has stated explicitly that incomplete or late applications aren’t considered, regardless of circumstances.
- Confirm you’ve completed the online survey before assuming your application is complete — submitting the PDF alone, without the survey, isn’t sufficient.
- Wait for the Scholarship Committee’s review. Finalists are invited for an interview, with outcome notifications typically sent by email within about a month of the deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Pauline Bakibinga Memorial Scholarship still accepting applications?
Not right now. The 2025 cycle’s deadline was September 29, 2025. A 2026 round is expected, since this scholarship runs as a confirmed programme through 2028, but the exact deadline has shifted between cycles, so check APHRC’s official career page directly rather than assuming a repeat date.
Does this scholarship cover my tuition fees?
No. APHRC states this explicitly — the funding covers research project costs specifically, not tuition. You need separate funding or arrangements in place for your programme fees.
Can male students apply?
No. This scholarship is specifically for female students, reflecting its origin in Dr Bakibinga’s own commitment to mentoring young women in the field.
Do I need to be studying in Kenya specifically, since APHRC is headquartered there?
No. Eligibility is based on residing in East Africa and being registered at an African university more broadly — you don’t need to be based in Kenya specifically, though APHRC’s Nairobi headquarters does mean strong familiarity with candidates and institutions across the East African region.
Does my research need to be exclusively about digital health, or can it be a broader public health topic with some digital element?
Your research needs an approved topic that genuinely embraces digital health innovations — a public health research project with only a minor or incidental digital component is unlikely to be competitive, since this scholarship’s entire purpose is built around Dr Bakibinga’s specific focus on digital health transformation.
Disclaimer: All scholarship details, deadlines, award values, and eligibility criteria in this post were verified from APHRC’s official website as of August 2026. Information is subject to change without notice. Always confirm the latest details directly on APHRC’s official career page before submitting your application. ScholarWaka is not affiliated with the African Population and Health Research Center.
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