2025: mobility grant

Calls for projects

Mobility grant 2024

The GDR Rift has launched its 4th call for Student Mobility (2024 edition) to promote student exchange and training.

The 8 applications received were evaluated and refereed by the Scientific Committee on 7 January 2025. This year we received a large number of applications from Master students (50% of the applications), which challenged the initial schedule. The committee selected 4 applications, giving priority to PhD students and considering the timing of the mobility requested. The total amount for this call was €6,670.

The beneficiaries of the aid for 2025 are:

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Mohamed ABDILLAHI ROBLEH (CERD)

My name is Mohamed ABDILLAHI ROBLEH and I work as a geochemistry technician at the Centre d’Etudes et des Recherches de Djibouti (CERD), after obtaining my bachelor’s degree in 2022.
Taking part in the RESEAA project through this academic mobility is a crucial step in my professional and personal development. This opportunity will enable me to acquire practical expertise in advanced analytical geochemistry, particularly through my research on the mangrove ecosystems of Djibouti. The course will provide me with cutting-edge techniques such as sequential extraction and speciation analysis of metals and metalloids, which are essential for my future career. Taking part in international academic exchanges will give me my first contact with researchers and experts in my field. Working with the RESEAA team will foster interdisciplinary perspectives and enrich my understanding of scientific collaboration. Personally, this experience will improve my communication, problem-solving and adaptability skills, which are essential for my academic development.

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Misganaw Gebremichale Woldetsadik (PACEA)

I am Misganaw Gebremichale Woldetsadik, an Ethiopian Ph.D. student at PACEA, University of Bordeaux, France. My research focuses on Middle to Later Pleistocene archaeology in Eastern Africa (500–100 ka BP) through lithic analysis. This critical period in paleoanthropology saw significant biological, cultural, and behavioral evolution. I study Late Acheulean and Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites in the Ethiopian section of the Great East African Rift Valley, employing qualitative and innovative quantitative approaches to investigate the transition from Acheulean to MSA, the diversity of MSA tools, and early hominin adaptive strategies in response to temporal, environmental, and geographic changes. My work aims to shed light on Middle to Late Pleistocene technology, behavior, and adaptation.

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Basile MANGIANTE (LESC & CHUS)

University of Paris Nanterre.
I am a student in the anthropology master’s programme at the University of Paris Nanterre. I work under the supervision of Mr Anthony Stavrianakis (LESC) and Rémi Korman (CHUS).
My research focuses on national unity and reconciliation policies in Rwanda. More specifically, I am interested in the local psychotherapeutic intervention mechanisms that these national policies structure in order to re-establish social cohesion and collaboration between citizens. Funding from the GDR Rift will enable me to spend four months in an association that organises group therapy for genocide survivors and participants in the south of the country. From this local perspective, the challenge will be to study the practical ways in which national reconciliation policies are applied and invested in. It will also examine the role of these psychotherapeutic mechanisms in the re-establishment of collective forms of work and reparation (land sharing, creation of agricultural cooperatives, collective contributions to solidarity and reparation funds).

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Haregwine HAILU (PALEVOPRIM)

PALEVOPRIM (Laboratoire Paléontologie Evolution Paléoécosystèmes Paléoprimatologie) UMR 7262 Université de Poitiers & CNRS
I am a doctoral student at PALEVOPRIM, University of Poitiers, with a keen interest in biogeography and paleoecology. My research focuses on examining ecological gradients and biogeographic patterns by exploring the role of dispersal, endemism phenomena, and local environmental conditions in the Turkana Basin and the Main Ethiopian Rift. By comparing the drivers of human evolutionary histories across multiple geographic scales, I aim to test the relative importance of global climatic influences versus local environmental factors. This approach provides insights into the ecological and biogeographic contexts that shaped the evolution of early humans and their environments.
Field of study: Palaeontology, paleoecology
Countries of activity in the rift: Ethiopia, Kenya

Reminder: The mobility grant can be used to participate in training courses, thematic schools, field trips, or visiting laboratories. The applicant must submit the details of the requested budget associated with their project. Upon award, the grant can only be used for travel, fieldwork, and mission expenses and can only be used for the applicant. The grant must be spent before the end of the financial year, beginning December 2024. The allocated stipend is subject to financial statements. We ask the beneficiaries for written feedback (one-page report + summary of expenses) and a small podcast presentation for the GDR website. Applicants who have not provided supporting documents for their previous applications will not be able to submit new projects.

The scientific committee of the GDR

GDR RIFT

Great African Rift
Interdisciplinary Group
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