Background

About the BRIDGE NETWORK Project

Project details: https://doi.org/10.3030/101145734,

Project Website: https://bridge-network.eu/

BRIDGE NETWORK is a consortium of 12 leading African and European institutions aiming to train the next generation of experts in integrated health informatics and data sciences applied to infectious diseases domain.

Jointly funded by the European Union and the Global Health EDCTP3 , the program is led by Ghent University and aims to establish six Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Benin, and South Africa.

These CoEs will serve as data hubs for cutting-edge research , world-class training in health data harmonization and analytics, and innovative solutions to tackle infectious diseases that continue to claim millions of lives across the African continent.

The BRIDGE NETWORK Training Project will provide:

• Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships training 14 experts to lead innovative research in data sciences bridged to health informatics and applied to infectious diseases.
• Postgraduate Certifications awarding maximum 20 certifications per Center of Excellence through a mix of online learning and practical field mentorship, and world-class collaboration by partnering with renowned worldwide institutions.

Application fields

Title: Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Integrated Data Sciences and Health Informatics (Research PhD)
(Scope: Infectious Diseases)

Language of application

All applications MUST be submitted in English.

Recruiting Institution

● Applicants should be Rwandans Only.
● Applications should be addressed to the Rwanda Biomedical Centre – RBC

Target group

Motivated Post-Doctoral Fellows specializing in infectious diseases. The fellow will undertake research on leveraging data sciences to address significant infectious disease challenges in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and will supervise PhD students within BRIDGE NETWORK. This position emphasizes data harmonization, analytical method development, and collaborative research in a networked, federated environment. This fellowship is ideal for candidates looking to apply advanced data science methodologies to real-world health data from SSA and lead innovative, data-driven solutions in infectious disease research.

Number of scholarships

One(01) post-doctoral fellowship in Rwanda.

Key Responsibilities

1. Lead and conduct high-level collaborative research on infectious disease topics within the BRIDGE NETWORK Centers of Excellence.

2. Drive research projects that integrate data sciences with health informatics to address infectious disease topics in SSA.

3. Contribute to developing data harmonization frameworks, including Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) processes, and master the “Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) Common Data Model (CDM)” methodology from the “Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OHDSI)” community .

4. Mentor PhD students and provide supervision on BRIDGE NETWORK activities within the SSA Centers of Excellence (CoEs)

– One in Benin located at the Institut Régional de Santé Publique-IRSP, Benin

– One in Kenya located at Agha Khan University -Center for Child, Women and Reproductive Health
– One in Rwanda located at the Rwanda Biomedical Center – RBC (Scientific Lead)
– One in South Africa located at university of Cape Town – UCT
– One in Uganda located at Uganda National Institute of Public Health (UNIPH), Ministry of Health.
– One in Ethiopia located at Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI)

5. Collaborate with local health institutions, European partners, data sciences projects and other stakeholders to ensure knowledge exchange and to strengthen the local research capacity.

6. Generate scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals and disseminate research findings at international conferences (at least 3
publications expected per candidate).

7. Support the creation of interactive data dashboards and dissemination
strategies to inform health policies and public health interventions.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible, applicants should:

1. Be of Rwandan nationality.
2. Commit to dedicate at least 50% of FTE (up to 100%) of time to the fellowship.
3. Have a PhD in Data Sciences, Health Informatics, Computer Sciences, (Bio)Medical Sciences, Public Health or a related field with a focus on infectious diseases or public health data.
4. Witness that the PhD degree was awarded before the date of appointment to the position and has been obtained within the last 5 years (not above) from a recognized university.
5. Prove strong analytical skills with demonstrated experience in data harmonization, data wrangling, and statistical analysis.
6. Ideally have (as an asset) proficiency in statistical packages such as SPSS, R, STATA, or SAS.
7. Ideally have (as an asset) proficiency in programming languages such as SQL, JSON, Python, R, or SAS
8. Witness familiarity with health data harmonization techniques (OMOP, Others) , medical terminology and standardized vocabularies (e.g. SNOMED, ICD).
9. Ideally have (as an asset) prior experience with federated data networks, real-world data analysis, and conducting multi-institutional studies.
10. Demonstrate a record of scholarly research, including publications and conference presentations in health informatics, data sciences, or medicine. Focus on infectious diseases is an asset.
11. Have experience with ethical and regulatory aspects of clinical and health data management is an asset.
12. Have excellent interpersonal and communication skills to collaborate across disciplines, institutions, and international partners.

Note: Women are highly encouraged to apply. In case of equal application file score, preference will be given to women.

How to apply

The application process contains two steps

–          First step:

Applicants must apply to Rwanda Biomedical Center -RBC (Contact: Prof Dr Claude Muvunyi Mambo, MD, PhD -Director General. E-mail: claude.muvunyi@rbc.gov.rw and copy to jclaude.ngabonziza@rbc.gov.rw)

o   Documents to provide while applying for this first step:

• Motivation letter to the BRIDGE NETWORK Coordinator, specifying – the area of interest for your PhD research, ideally a high-level topic title (with 10 lines maximum concept idea) in the area of infectious diseases where you leverage combined health informatics skills and data sciences techniques.
• Copies of academic degrees (from baccalaureate)
• 3 letters of recommendation (from at least 1 Associate Professor level) from the institutions attended by the applicant
• Curriculum vitae including when applicable, a list of scientific publications and justify any trajectory gap in CV if any.

Application Deadline for the First step:
11th September 2026.

– Second step:

• BRIDGE NETWORK reserves the right of final pre-selection.
• Only the pre-selected candidates are asked to enter into the hiring process at the hiring institution (with supporting letter from BRIDGE NETWORK)

What we offer

• We offer you a highly competitive contract fellowship stipend of definite duration for the period of 18 months if working 100% FTE or 36 months if working 50%.
• Your contract can start immediately.
• Opportunities for advanced training and professional development thin the BRIDGE NETWORK program.
• Access to state-of-the-art data science tools and mentorship from a diverse, international team of experts.
• Opportunities to work in Country Health Data Hubs across SSA and collaborate with European research institutions.