The Faculty of Law is seeking exceptional Black South Africans (i.e. African, Coloured, and Indian), who will enroll for postgraduate degrees (LLM/MPhil; PhD; Postdoc) in the Faculty in 2021, to join the UCT Academic Pipeline Initiative. The programme will provide institutional support to candidates to further develop their academic potential and to equip them to apply for academic positions at tertiary institutions.

We wish to select applicants with proven academic potential and an interest in becoming an academic staff member at UCT or another South African university. We will consider applicants who meet our selection criteria and are planning to study in any area of the law. This selection process is part of the UCT-wide Action Plan for Accelerating and Deepening Academic Staff Transformation.

Full details and application process are available in this pdf download.

In line with this, the Law Faculty is looking to select students enrolled for the following post-graduate degrees in 2021:
1. Two students enrolled for an LLM/MPhil (by dissertation; by coursework & mini-dissertation; or in the professional Masters programme).
2. One student enrolled for a PhD.
3. One Postdoc (to be nominated by the Law Faculty to the UCT executive – only two Postdoc positions will be filled for the entire university, hence nomination by the Law Faculty does not guarantee ultimate selection).

As the successful candidate, you will be expected to register (or re-register) for one of the above post-graduate degrees in the UCT Law Faculty in 2021. You will thereafter be assigned a mentor, with whom you will meet monthly. You will also report to the designated faculty manager of this programme, who will ensure that you adhere to programme performance benchmarks. Funding will be available from the UCT Post-graduate Funding Office to help support the costs of your studies. Further institutional support will include integration into the academic staff programmes led by the UCT Centre for Higher Education and Development (CHED) and the UCT Research Office. There will also be research writing retreats, which you will be expected to attend.

Minimum requirements for selection include:
- South African citizenship.
- Candidate must be from the designated group (that is: Black African, Coloured, Indian).
- Candidate must have a strong academic record and have obtained an average of at least 70% in their previous degree.
- Candidate must have completed their previous degree within the minimum prescribed time limit.
- Candidates are expected to register towards a post-graduate degree (as listed above) in the UCT Law Faculty in 2021.

Candidates who are able to demonstrate involvement in teaching and curriculum development may be preferred.
To apply, please e-mail the below documents in a single pdf file to Faiza Mohamed on or before the closing date:
- Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Certified transcripts of ALL prior academic degrees.
- Two academic referee reports.
- A motivation of your current/intended career path progression (2 pages max).

Please ensure that you indicate clearly in the email subject line that you are applying for the ‘Academic Pipeline Initiative – Law Faculty’.

An application which does not comply with the above requirements will be regarded as incomplete.

Enquiries: Dr Andrew Hutchison (Transformation Committee Chair)
Closing date: 19 February 2021