JAS 1 Cohort 4

Welcome to the site for the first Joint Advanced Seminar (JAS 1)  Cohort 4 of CARTA Fellows

The residential Joint Advanced Seminars (JAS) are central to the training program of CARTA fellows. The JAS are designed to enhance fellows' skills and knowledge, guide and propel them through the research process, and provide a foundation for building networks of researchers, peers, and mentors. The JAS requirement promises to produce strong common quality expertise that can help the long term disciplinary cohesion of scholars, who come from different universities and with varied quality in previous education. Residential training offers the advantage of getting the Fellows to focus fully on specific program tasks, learn collaboratively, interact with local and international facilitators, and develop and consolidate professional networks.

The JAS is offered about once annually for four years to each cohort, and builds skills and conceptual depth from year to year. Each JAS runs for 3 to 4 weeks. Specific topics to be covered will minimally include the following:

• JAS-1 builds critical thinking, technical skills, and other core research competencies, and introduces students to the essential concepts and seminal articles of the disciplines brought together under CARTA.

• JAS-2 focuses on data management and analysis. Fellows will learn to use software packages for qualitative and quantitative data management and analyses. Practice sessions use real research data and current software packages for hands-on training.

• JAS-3 focuses on data presentation, the doctoral dissertation, and scientific writing and communication skills to facilitate results dissemination and policy engagement.

• JAS-4 addresses professional development including skills necessary to raise and manage research funds, grant writing and research management, development of courses, management of large class sizes, and supervision of graduate students. JAS-4 is also designed to serve as an opportunity for senior fellows to practice mentoring of junior fellows through discussion and laboratory sessions, software training, and general information sharing. 

JAS 1 for the 4th Cohort runs from March 10 - 2014 to April 4, 2014 Nairobi, Kenya at the Safari Park hotel.