C4DLAB OPENS CALL FOR UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI INNOVATION FELLOWSHIP 2019/2020
- George Masila
- August 30, 2019
- Uncategorized
- Business, Design Thinking, Fellowship, Innovate, Innovation, Masters Students, Student, Students, University, University of Nairobi, UON
- 3 Comments
The University of Nairobi through the C4DLab and strategic industry partners has opened applications for the 2019/2020 cohort of the University of Nairobi Innovation fellowship.
The year-long prestigious Innovation fellowship program is aimed at giving 15 select fellows an opportunity to solve real-life local problems while applying the 21st century 4Cs skills and explore human-centered design thinking methodologies.
The fellows will interact with a community of leading innovation experts from various industries and join a network of change architects curious to ignite sustainable growth and development in Africa.
As a leading institution of higher learning and research, The University of Nairobi recognizes the promising innovation future of the African continent and is focused on leveraging on the vast student community to design solutions to problems to realize sustainable growth across our societies.
Learning approach
After successful interviews and admission into the fellowship program, the fellows will undertake a 15 hours a week, 9 months deep immersion into four key pillars that will shape their innovation prowess; the first pillar will involve the 21st Century 4Cs skills of Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity.
The fellows will then venture into the second pillar of Principles and Practices of Innovation, Fundamentals of Problem Based Learning and Design Thinking before familiarizing with the third pillar which constitutes Multidisciplinary problem-solving.
Conversely, the fellows will discover the fourth pillar which involves Practical experiences in planning and executing the Nairobi Innovation Week (NIW), an annual event that supports and accelerates innovation and entrepreneurship in the region.
Benefits
Fellowship programs usually carry along benefits which are rarely obtained within a normal education oriented program. The University of Nairobi Innovation Fellowship is not an exception as it boasts of a number of benefits that the fellows will realize riding on the success of the 2018/2019 cohort.
The fellows will get an opportunity to work on a concrete project with international partners, Develop new skills and broaden their expertise, employ Human-centered Design Thinking (HCDT) approach to solve real-life local industry problems in addition to joining a network of innovation leaders in the region and continent.
Moreover, the fellows will get an opportunity to participate as co-organizers of the NIW besides exploring new fields with the C4DLab partners and the University of Nairobi. Significantly, the fellows will be awarded certificates after their successful completion of the program.
Important dates
The application process will be closed on the 20th of September, 2019 after which the applicants will be shortlisted and successful applicants invited for an interview.
The successful interviewees will then be admitted into the Fellowship and will undergo a nine months rigorous training which will kick off in October 2019 culminating in June 2020 at the 6th Edition of the NIW.
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Jay Samit
I was honored to see my quote used in your tweet and would love to help the students of your innovation program. Please pass this message to Dr. Tonny Omwansa
George Masila
Hello. This would be amazing. I will forward the matter to him.
Thanks.
George Masila
In the meantime, how do you think you would help the innovation students?