ISSBD Developing Country Fellowships

About the Fellowship

The aim of Developing Countries Fellowships (DCFs) is to encourage sustainable development of activities congruent with the aims of ISSBD in developing countries and assist the professional development of early career scholars. The ISSBD Committee has approved the continuation of the scheme and applications for the 9th tranche of DCF awards are now open. The aim is to encourage sustainable development of activities congruent with the aims of ISSBD in developing countries and assist the professional development of early career scholars in such countries. Each DCF provides free conference attendance at ISSBD (including economy airfare and a subsistence allowance), a support grant of $1,500 per annum for the duration of the Fellowship, starting in September immediately following the ISSBD conference and support from one or two Mentors.
Fellows should be early career researchers (that is, normally within 10 years of their first or higher degree), and must be a member of ISSBD (at least once selected as a Fellow). They should have a post in a host country that is a developing country as defined by ISSBD membership criteria (so entitled to a reduced membership fee), and normally they should be a citizen of this host country.

How do I Apply?

Information, and an application form, are available on the ISSBD website. They can also be obtained from either of the co-chairs of the Selection Panel. Applications can be made, preferably by email, or by post to:

(1) Peter K Smith, Dept. of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London, SE14 6NW, U.K.: email p.smith@gold.ac.uk OR

(2) Muthanna Samara, Dept of Psychology, Kingston University, Penrhyn Road, Kingston-Upon-Thames KT1 2EE, UK: email: M.Samara@Kingston.ac.uk .

Deadline

For this new round of DCFs, applications must be received by Monday, December 16th
2024.

Decisions will be announced in January 2025. Presentations would then be made at the 28th Biennial ISSBD meeting, in Incheon, South Korea, in June 2026.

HISTORY OF THE DCF SCHEME

• In 2009 we had 20 applications and selected three Fellows (who successfully completed in 2012).
• In 2011 we had 15 applications and selected four Fellows (who successfully completed in 2014).
• In 2013 we had 22 valid applications, from Cameroon, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lithuania, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Zambia and Zimbabwe – and selected three (who completed in 2016).
• In 2015 we had 22 valid applications from Bangladesh, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Ethiopia, Ghana,  Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Panama, Romania, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and selected three Fellows (who completed in 2018).
• In 2017 we had 15 valid applications from Albania, Cameroon, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Romania, South Africa and Zimbabwe. We selected three Fellows but only two were able to take up the offer (who completed in 2020).
• In 2019 we had 17 valid applications from Brazil, Cameroon, China, Cote D’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Africa, Turkey, and Zambia. We were able to fund four Fellows (who have completed their first year and will present final Posters in Rhodes, 2022).
• In 2021 we had 28 applications, from Cameroon, Honduras, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Turkey, and S. Africa. We selected four Fellows.

Current ISSBD DCF Fellows:

Current Fellows: 2024

Wakil Ajibola Asekun, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria 

‘I couldn’t control myself’: Impacts of an emotional intelligence program on adolescent impulsivity and its associated factors in Juvenile Homes in Lagos, Nigeria.

Mentor: Deepali Sharma

Bijayalaxmi Biswal, Sangath, Goa, India 

Understanding the socio-political determinants of mental distress and help-seeking behaviours among marginalized caste students in Indian universities: a qualitative study.

Mentors: Suman Verma, Peter Smith, Abhijit Nadkarni

Ijang Bih Ngyah Etchutambe, University of Buea, Cameroon 

Giving hope in hopeless times through nurturing employability skills among Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)Youth in Buea, South West Region of Cameroon.

Mentor: Ingrid Schoon

Lydiah Wanjiru Maingi, Kenyatta University, Kenya 

Factors Associated with Resilience among Adolescents Facing Maternal Cancer in Kenya.

Mentor: Amina Abubakar, Anne Petersen

The DCF panel took account of 5 criteria in applications: Academic Scope; Practical Outcomes; Use of Support Grant; Challenges to Success; Sustainability.

Past ISSBD DCF Fellows:

Elected 2020

Su Wan Gan, from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar, Perak, Malaysia

Positive grandparenting and ageing program for Malaysian grandparents.

Mentors: Peter Smith, Charissa Cheah, Jo-Pei Tan

Ayé Clarisse Hager-M’Boua, from Université Alassane Ouattara, Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire

Bilingual Education: Abidji and French learning from preschool into primary school.

Mentors: Anne Petersen, Caroline Floccia

Leunita Makutsa Makila, from Kibabii University, Kenya

Personal factors influencing resilience in school adaptation among children in post war context, Mt. Elgon subcounty, Bungoma county, Kenya: Implication for intervention in schools.

Mentors: Silvia Koller, Anne Petersen

Mitiku Abdisa Hamdisa, from School of Psychology, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The status of adolescents’ family environments: Addis Ababa City secondary school students in focus.

Mentors: Silvia Koller, Peter Smith

Elected 2018:

• Lavinia Cheie, from Developmental Psychology Lab, Department of Psychology, “Babe-Bolyai” University, Republicii Str. 37, 40005, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Left behind or thriving? Different outcomes of parental migration in ‘left behind’ school-children: the role of cognitive vulnerability 

Mentor: Silvia Koller

• Joachim Nyoni, from the University of Cape Town, South Africa

Participatory action research project on family needs: Experiences of formal and informal support services available among Zambian parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

Mentor: Cleonice Bosa

Elected 2016

• Anilena Mejia, from Violence Prevention Lab, Institute for Scientific Research and High Technology Services (INDICASAT – AIP), Panama 

Exploring risk and protective factors for youth violence and crime in Panama

Mentor: Peter Smith

• Laura Alexandra Visu-Petra, from Developmental Psychology Lab, Department of Psychology, “Babe-Bolyai” University, Republicii Str. 37, 40005, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

A cross-cultural perspective on lie acceptability across development. A proxy for actual deceptive behaviour?

Mentor: Silvia Koller

• Stephen Asatsa, from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya

Relationship between death preparedness and end of life planning during middle and late adulthood, Nairobi County, Kenya.

Mentors: Suman Verma, Anne Petersen

Elected 2014

• Yuri Arsenio Sanz Martinez, from University of Holguín “Oscar Lucero Moya”. Holguín, Cuba.
  Emotion and emotion regulation in late adolescents with suicide behaviour.
  Mentor: Silvia Koller
• Irina Crumpei, from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi, Romania
  The School Dropout Epidemic – in search of a treatment.
  Mentors: Silvia Koller, Suman Verma
• Lazarous Ndhlovu, from University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia.
  Effects of HIV status and linguistic medium on the test performance of rural low-literacy adults: implications for Neuropsychological test development in Zambia.
  Mentors: Robert Serpell, Julie Robinson

Elected 2012

• Maureen Mweru, Kenyatta University, Kenya.
  Bullying in Kenyan schools: Causes, impact and possible intervention strategies.
  Mentor: Peter Smith
• Guilherme Wendt, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Brazil
  Do parental practices predict cyber bullying outcomes on adolescent behaviour? An analysis of mediator and moderator effects related to peer victimization in the internet.
  Mentor: Peter Smith
• Guangheng Wang, Shanghai Changning District Institute of Education, China
  The active ingredient of effective classroom for children from kindergarten to elementary school in urban area in China.
  Mentor: Suman Verma
• Joseph Lo-Oh, University of Buea, Cameroon.
  Generation X in Cameroon: “No Where to Go … But Everywhere to Go …” in the twenty somethings … A study of emerging adults in Cameroon.
  Mentor: Catherine Cooper

Elected 2010

• Noel Malanda, Maseno University, Kenya.
  Intervention promotion strategies for HIV/AIDS prevention among the youth in secondary schools in Emuhaya district, Kenya.
  Mentors: Suman Verma, Anne Petersen.
• Bestern Kaani, University of Zambia, Zambia.
  Reading in transparent and opaque orthographies: Effects of English and Chitonga languages on reading outcomes in Zambia.
  Mentor: Malt Joshi
• Lauren Gail Wild, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
  Grandparental involvement and adolescent adjustment in South Africa.
  Mentor: Peter Smith.