We invite expressions of interest for a new opportunity with the Tsitsa Project in 2020: 1x Masters Bursary to conduct research in the Knowledge and Learning Community of Practice. 

The Tsitsa Project is being implemented in the communal and commercial areas of the north-eastern Eastern Cape. The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) working with local authorities and traditional leaders, conducts land restoration in the highly erodible Tsitsa river catchment, while a number of South African universities conduct related research in this remote rural landscape. Rhodes University has been contracted by DEFF to provide support on various research-praxis aspects to the project. This is done through numerous ‘Communities of Practice’ (CoP) which bring together researchers, managers, and local residents to jointly develop knowledge and action for integrated landscape management. The Knowledge and Learning CoP (KL CoP) coordinates capacity development, knowledge management, and Participatory Monitoring, Evaluation, Reflection and Learning (PMERL) research and support for the project. The KL CoP is co-hosted by the Environmental Learning Research Centre and the Department of Environmental Science, at Rhodes University. 

The Tsitsa Project offers a Bursary for a Masters student to conduct research in the Knowledge and Learning Community of Practice: towards a Masters in Education or a Masters in Science (1x Masters bursary). 

The student will be based full-time at Rhodes University in Makhanda, in the Eastern Cape. Here they will join a vibrant transdisciplinary research community with a strong commitment to just social development and ecological sustainability. We work with some of the best scholars globally and nationally, and we also deeply value our close connections with rural communities. 

If you are interested in this opportunity to further your studies and in working in such a context, please send a CV, copies of degree certificates and academic transcripts, and a two-page motivation as to why you can and want to do this work, to the Tsitsa Project Coordinator Margaret Wolff: M.Wolff@ru.ac.za. 

Queries about the details of the research may be directed to Prof Eureta Rosenberg, E.Rosenberg@ru.ac.za or Dr. Jessica Cockburn, J.Cockburn@ru.ac.za. 

The closing date for expressions of interest is 14th February 2020. Appointments are to be made during February-March, to commence on 1st April 2020, or as soon as possible. Masters candidates are encouraged to submit an application earlier to make the most of support to postgraduates available at the university during the early part of the year. 

For information on the Tsitsa Project aims and scope, please refer to:

The list of literature and project documents below, and the Tsitsa Project Website: https://sites.google.com/view/tsitsa-project/home 

DETAILS OF THE MASTERS BURSARY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH ON KNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING PROCESSES IN THE TSITSA PROJECT 

The Knowledge and Learning Community of Practice in the Tsitsa Project supports research and praxis within the Tsitsa Project focused on three main areas: 

1. Capacity development, 

2. Knowledge management and mediation, and 

3. Participatory Monitoring, Evaluation, Reflection and Learning (PMERL). 

We are looking for a Masters student to join our team to conduct research within one or more of these three main areas. Based on the student’s background, interests and career aspirations, there is the possibility of registering either in the Faculty of Education and being based at the Environmental 

Learning Research Centre, or registering in the Faculty of Science and being based at the Department of Environmental Science. 

The following are possible research topics which could be taken up in the Masters study (additional ideas based on the candidates’ background and interest can also be explored): 

  1. Develop and pilot a participatory methodology to monitor and evaluate the Tsitsa Project’s capacity development activities (primarily social science/education research). 
  2. Investigate agency, collective action, knowledge and learning linkages by supporting reflection processes within the growing network of citizen monitors, technicians and liaison officers within the Tsitsa Project (primarily social science/education research). 
  3. Investigate the potential for interleaving DEFF catchment-level reporting into the Tsitsa Project’s PMERL processes to support polycentric governance and decision-making (primarily social science/education research). 
  4. Construct a sustainable livelihoods baseline and methods to support monitoring, evaluation and learning in the Tsitsa Project (primarily environmental science research). 
  5. Investigate the intersections of local ecological knowledge and livelihoods in the Tsitsa catchment to enable integration of local knowledge into monitoring and evaluation processes (interdisciplinary social/environmental science research). 
  6. Conduct a stakeholder analysis at village level to gain a better understanding of who is involved in landscape management and what the local-level opportunities are for Participatory Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (PMERL) in the Tsitsa Project (primarily social science/education research). 

Nature of Position: Bursary for full-time Masters Study to the value of R132 000 per annum (this includes the cost of student fees and a monthly stipend) for two years. 

Available: From 1 April 2020 (or sooner). 

Qualification: Honours degree or equivalent, with a background in interdisciplinary social-ecological research or similar in either Education or Science. 

Supervisors: Prof Eureta Rosenberg and/or Dr. Jessica Cockburn (Additional co-supervisors can be considered). 

For further information please visit the Tsitsa Project website at: https://sites.google.com/view/tsitsa-project/home