Webinar series: Preparing for graduate study abroad for African students
Each year, J-PAL Africa runs a three-part webinar series providing information on pursuing graduate study abroad. The first webinar provides guidance on how to prepare for a graduate program in Economics abroad while the second and third webinars provide information on how to put together a competitive application for a Masters or PhD program in Economics, Public Policy or related fields in North America and Europe.
Webinar 1: How to prepare for graduate study abroad
The first instalment in the series targets Africans who would like information on pathways to acquire the skills and experience that sets one up for graduate study abroad and strengthens one's application. This year our webinar features Dr. Josué Awonon, Senior Policy and Research Manager at J-PAL Africa, Dr. Yvan Andriameva Assany, Policy Manager and J-PAL Africa, and Dr. Nkechi Owoo, J-PAL Invited Researcher and Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana. The webinar will take place on 13 March 2026, from 4-5pm GMT+2. Please register here.
Webinar 2: Putting together a successful application, North America edition
The second instalment of the Pre-PhD webinar series targets prospective African students who are preparing to apply to PhD programs in North America. In 2025 the webinar featured a panel of admissions faculty from a number of schools including McGill University, Princeton University, Tufts University, University of Minnesota, University of Houston, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and Cornell University. At the end of the webinar, participants had a chance to ask questions directly of admissions faculty in breakout groups. The 2025 session took place in September, and has been uploaded here.
Webinar 3: Putting together a successful application, Europe and UK edition
The third and final instalment of the Pre-PhD webinar series targets prospective African students who are preparing to apply to Masters or PhD programs in Europe. In 2025 the webinar featured a panel of admissions faculty from the University of Louvain, Trinity College Dublin, NOVA School of Business and Economics, CERDI at the University Clermont Auvergne, University of Potsdam, Oxford University, UNU-MERIT United Nations University, Wageningen University, and ETH Zurich. The 2025 edition took place in October and is available here.
Resources
Below we provide links to a number of written resources that may be helpful in the application process. They were last updated in February 2024 and may not be comprehensive, but we hope they will serve as a useful starting point in your PhD application journey.