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Call for Applications: LUNE THREE – Shaping AI from African Contexts Fellowship 2026

March 9, 2026

Are you a graduate student (masters and PhD) in humanities or social sciences in Nigeria, already exploring or are interested in the intersections between the humanities/social sciences disciplines and artificial intelligence? Are you a graduate student open to interdisciplinary approaches that bridge the gap between AI and humanities/social sciences research? Are you thinking about how to engage AI ethically, contextually and in service of your communities? The LUNE 3: Shaping AI from African Contexts Fellowship is open for students like you!

The LUNE 3: Shaping AI from African Contexts Fellowship is an intensive 10-week programme designed for Nigerian graduate and doctoral researchers who are committed to reimagining and critiquing technology through African epistemologies, contexts, and values. 

Fellows will develop critical analytical skills, technical capabilities, and practical experience to become scholar-practitioners who can research, critique, design, and build technological futures grounded in African realities. We are seeking fellows and navigators who are starting to explore questions like:

 

 

    • If digital intelligence increasingly mediates decisions in health, education, welfare, and democracy, what new forms of power and vulnerability are emerging for African communities, and which tools or concepts from our disciplines best help us see them clearly?

    • What new solidarities or fractures are appearing between workers, citizens, and states as AI reconfigures labour, surveillance, and welfare across African societies? What would it mean to use AI not only to increase productivity but also to redistribute power and resources in African economies, for example, in agriculture, informal trade, care work, or cultural industries?

    • How might African philosophical, spiritual, and artistic traditions unsettle dominant assumptions about intelligence, agency, and consciousness in AI debates?

    • If AI becomes a long‑term part of Africa’s research and knowledge infrastructure, what would it take to ensure that future generations inherit systems they can understand, repair, and reshape, not opaque black boxes controlled elsewhere? How do we study AI systems that are opaque, constantly changing, and partly deceptive, while still producing knowledge that communities can trust and act on?

    • How might dependence on foreign AI infrastructure, platforms, and capital reproduce older patterns of extraction in African economies, and what would genuine digital and economic sovereignty look like instead?

    • Which African concepts of personhood, community, and responsibility might offer alternative ways to think about “alignment” and “safety” in AI?

    • How are AI systems quietly reorganising time, work, and relationships in African institutions, from classrooms and clinics to newsrooms and courts, and what forms of resistance or adaptation are emerging in response?

    • In a world of hallucinations, synthetic data, and automated narratives, how do we decide what counts as reliable knowledge about African lives, and what responsibilities do researchers carry when they use AI‑generated material?

    • What kinds of legal, communal, and cultural guardrails would genuinely protect African societies from AI‑driven harm, and how might those guardrails look different from the regulatory models currently dominating Global North debates

    • What new research methods become necessary when AI systems co‑produce culture, news, images, and language alongside humans?

Program Highlights:

  • Learn fundamental AI concepts and their applications in humanities/social sciences
  • Gain practical skills in Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning
  • Develop critical thinking about AI’s impact on society and culture
  • Present final projects at a virtual symposium
  • Collaborate with peers and experts to shape the future of AI research in Nigeria

Who Should Apply

We’re seeking master’s and doctoral (PhD) students who are:

  • Currently enrolled in or recently completed (within 12 months) a Master’s or PhD program at a Nigerian university.
  • Working in humanities, social sciences, or interdisciplinary fields including but not limited to:
    • Linguistics, Literature, Languages, Communication, Media Studies
    • Political Science, International Relations, Public Policy
    • Sociology, Anthropology, Geography, Cultural Studies
    • History, Philosophy, Religious Studies, African Studies
    • Education, Psychology, Development Studies
    • Law, Human Rights, Gender Studies
    • Economics, Public Health, Environmental Studies
    • Information Science, Science & Technology Studies (STS)

We’re looking for candidates who:

  • Have a clear research interest at the intersection of technology and their discipline
  • Are committed to producing tangible outputs (publications, tools, policy briefs, datasets)
  • Want to work collaboratively with peers across disciplines
  • Are passionate about African contexts and centering African knowledge systems
  • Are willing to learn technical skills (no prior coding/AI experience required, but openness to learning is essential)
  • Can commit fully to the 10-week program schedule

You do NOT need:

  • To have your research “finished”; works in progress are welcome
  • Humanities/social sciences researchers do not require a background in AI but are keen to explore the relationships. 

 

Timeline:

Application Deadline – April 20 2026

Shortlisted Applicants Contacted – Early May 2026

Finalist announced – late May 2026

Program – May to July 2026

Expert Facilitators have included:

  • Dr. Chinasa Okolo (Fellow, Brookings Institution/Time 100 in AI 2024)
  • Ayantola Alayande (African Observatory on Responsible AI/Global Center on AI Governance)
  • Olanrewaju Samuel (Aya Language Ambassador for Yorùbá/Cohere For AI)
  • Tejumade Afonja (Doctoral Researcher, CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security)
  • Timilehin Durotoye (Doctoral Researcher of AI, digital media and algorithms, Penn State University)
  • Nelson Olanipekun (Founder, Citizens’ Gavel and PodusAI)
  • Frank (Onyeka) Ọnụ (Doctoral Researcher of Black Digital Humanities, University of Lethbridge)
  • Joy Victor (Data Analyst at DataedX Group | Co-Lead Tableau + AI User Group)
  • Dr. Najeeb G. Abdulhamid (Ethnographic Researcher, Microsoft Research)
  • Ololade Faniyi (Doctoral Researcher of African feminist digital cultures and critical data studies, Emory University)
  • Kauna Malgwi (Chairperson Nigerian Chapter, COntent Moderators Union)
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