Call for Applications: Post-Doctoral Fellowship and Two Masters Scholarships
Co-designing Multi-Value Frameworks for Transparent and Ethical Copper Supply Chains: Artisanal & Small-Scale Mining (ASM) & Copper Harvesting
The Society, Work & Politics Institute (SWOP) at the University of the Witwatersrand invites applications for two Masters scholarships and one Post-Doctoral fellowship for the 2026 academic year. Successful applicants will participate in the Co-designing Multi-Value Frameworks for Transparent and Ethical Copper Supply Chains.
This project aims to transform copper supply chains by co-designing innovative socio-environmental-technical frameworks that embed plural values at every stage of the mining life cycle. Copper is essential for renewable energy technologies, but its extraction can mean that nearby communities and ecosystems suffer a tremendous cost. There is a need for current copper sourcing methods to better incorporate concerns around the environment and cultural relationships with the land. When economic value and technical efficiency are prioritised, this can risk repeating histories of dispossession, exacerbate inequality, and produce conflict across landscapes, among communities, and within the mining industry itself.
Current ESG frameworks are failing to manage these tensions. A root cause is a failure to account for plural values. Mining decision-making remains dominated by economic and technical priorities. While social, ecological, and cultural values are increasingly acknowledged, they are still poorly understood and weakly embedded in decision-making across mining policies, practices and processes. To address this, our research will co-design innovative socio-environmental-technical frameworks that work directly with local communities – alongside engineers, policymakers, and scientists – to propose new ways of planning and governing copper’s supply chain (and that of other critical minerals) that respect ecosystems, reflect community priorities, and uphold the right to give or withhold consent.
Post-Doctoral Fellowship
The Post-Doctoral Fellowship advertised in this call will work in parallel to the main project research team, focusing specifically on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). This focus reflects the project’s commitment to understanding mineral valuation across the full spectrum of extraction and circulation systems, not only formal industrial operations. Small-scale extraction economies represent critical yet often marginalised sites where plural values – livelihood, survival, environmental relationships, community solidarity – shape how copper is understood and engaged with. This research runs parallel to investigations of formal mining operations and feeds directly into the broader multivaluation framework, ensuring that our understanding of copper’s diverse meanings and values encompasses both industrial and informal contexts.
We invite candidates with expertise in ASM, mining governance, resource extraction, or related fields. The Post-doc will lead research on ASM of critical minerals, contributing to multiple work parcels including understanding plural values, identifying leverage points for systemic reform, and co-designing multi-value decision-making frameworks. The successful candidate will be expected to conduct independent research, publish in peer-reviewed journals (two articles over the two-year period), contribute to project reports and policy briefs, engage with stakeholders, and mentor the Masters students working on ASM-related topics. The Post-doc will work closely with the project team across all partner institutions and participate in conferences and research events.
All successful applicants will be expected to contribute to the project’s overarching work on multivaluation – the recognition and integration of plural values (cultural, ecological, economic, ethical, social, and relational) into decision-making about copper supply chains. While the Post-doctoral fellow will develop independent research outputs, all scholarship and fellowship holders will participate in collaborative workshops, contribute to the development of valuation frameworks, engage with project stakeholders including mining-affected communities, and help build the evidence base for transforming how mining decisions are made. The Post-doc will take responsibility for the organisation of a monthly seminar series on ASM, in partnership with the Wits Mining Institute. The successful candidates will also be expected to attend a weekly internal seminar at SWOP over the course of the University-prescribed academic calendar. Recipients will benefit from a strong, supportive, and collaborative interdisciplinary and transnational research environment.
Value of Fellowship: R350,000 per annum (two years)
Eligibility and Requirements
- PhD in a relevant field (e.g., anthropology, sociology, geography, environmental studies, development studies, mining engineering, political science, or related disciplines)
- Demonstrated research expertise in artisanal and small-scale mining, extractive industries, mining governance, or related areas
- Strong publication record with evidence of peer-reviewed journal articles
- Experience with community and stakeholder engagement will be advantageous
Application Process
Your application should include:
- A detailed and up-to-date CV with contact details for two academic referees
- Certified copies of degrees and an academic transcript
- A research proposal (not more than 2,000 words) outlining your proposed research programme.
- Disclosure of any other funding applied for and/or received. While prospective recipients are not precluded from receiving other funding, all such funding must be disclosed at the time of application. Prospective recipients are expected to be fully committed to the project.
Please submit your application to Lucinda.Solomon@wits.ac.za by 15 April 2026.
Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed and outcomes will be known by the end of April 2026.
Masters Scholarships
The Masters scholarships advertised in this call will work in parallel to the main project research team, focusing specifically on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) and copper harvesting/scrap copper value chains. This focus reflects the project’s commitment to understanding copper valuation across the full spectrum of extraction and circulation systems, not only formal industrial operations. Small-scale extraction economies represent critical yet often marginalised sites where plural values – livelihood, survival, environmental relationships, community solidarity – shape how copper is understood and engaged with. This research runs parallel to investigations of formal mining operations and feeds directly into the broader multivaluation framework, ensuring that our understanding of copper’s diverse meanings and values encompasses both industrial and informal contexts.
We invite applications for the following positions:
- Masters Scholarship: Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM)
This scholarship is for a candidate interested in conducting research on artisanal and small-scale mining in the copper sector (and other critical minerals). The successful candidate will explore the plural values associated with mineral extraction in ASM contexts, examining how artisanal miners, communities, and other stakeholders engage with copper production systems. This research will contribute to the broader project, with particular focus on understanding community worldviews, lived experiences, and the social, economic, and environmental implications of ASM practices. The successful candidate will be expected to produce at least one peer-reviewed publication from their dissertation research.
This position is reserved for full-time students undertaking a Masters degree by Research Dissertation only.
- Masters Scholarship: Copper Harvesting and Scrap Copper Value Chains
This scholarship is for a candidate interested in investigating copper harvesting practices and the value chains associated with scrap copper, including illegal copper extraction and trade. The successful candidate will examine the complex networks and economies that have emerged around copper scavenging and recycling, exploring questions of livelihood, survival economies, environmental impact, and the governance challenges associated with regulating these activities. This research will contribute to understanding plural values in informal and illegal copper systems, mapping the actors, practices, and social dynamics involved, and examining how these systems intersect with formal mining operations and regulatory frameworks. The successful candidate will be expected to produce at least one peer-reviewed publication from their dissertation research.
This position is reserved for full-time students undertaking a Masters degree by Research Dissertation only.
Contribution to the Broader Research Project
All successful applicants will be expected to contribute to the project’s overarching work on multivaluation – the recognition and integration of plural values (cultural, ecological, economic, ethical, social, and relational) into decision-making about copper supply chains. While Masters students will pursue their own dissertation research, scholarship holders will participate in collaborative workshops, contribute to the development of valuation frameworks, engage with project stakeholders including mining-affected communities, and help build the evidence base for transforming how mining decisions are made. The successful candidates will also be expected to attend a weekly internal seminar over the course of the University-prescribed academic calendar. Recipients will benefit from a strong, supportive, and collaborative interdisciplinary and transnational research environment.
Value of Scholarships
R40,000 per annum (for two years)
Eligibility and Requirements
- Excellent Honours results
- A research project that focuses on the relevant topic area (ASM or scrap copper value chains)
- Demonstrated interest in mining studies, plural values, community engagement, or related fields
Application Process
Your application should include:
- A detailed and up-to-date CV with contact details for two academic referees
- Certified copies of degrees and an academic transcript
- A brief concept paper (not more than 1,000 words) outlining your proposed research (or research proposal if available)
- Disclosure of any other funding applied for and/or received. While prospective recipients are not precluded from receiving other funding, all such funding must be disclosed at the time of application. Prospective recipients are expected to be fully committed to the project.
- If you have already been accepted for an MA at Wits and have been assigned a supervisor, please provide these details.
- If your proposal has already been approved and accepted by a Faculty, please supply a copy of this proposal and a covering letter explaining how you envisage this project as contributing to and benefitting from the broader copper supply chains research agenda.
Please submit your application to Lucinda.Solomon@wits.ac.za by 15 April 2026.
Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed and outcomes will be known by the end of April 2026.