MSc Graduate Fellowship: Evidence Synthesis in Agri-Food Systems and Climate Change

About the role

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is recruiting three MSc graduate fellows to work on evidence synthesis under the Livestock and Climate Solutions Hub, hosted by the Livestock Climate and Environment (LCE) programme. The project aims to generate robust, actionable evidence, turn it into outputs for policy, investment and practice, and strengthen ILRI's capacity in evidence-synthesis methods and data-driven decision-making. Fellows work with a multidisciplinary team of researchers and external partners, mainly through desk-based research and stakeholder consultations; fieldwork and travel are not anticipated.

Key responsibilities

• Conduct evidence syntheses such as evidence gap maps, scoping reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analyses on topics relevant to livestock systems, food systems, climate change, environmental or health impacts.
• Carry out systematic literature searches, screen papers, upload full texts, extract data, synthesise results and interpret findings.
• Contribute to high-impact scientific writing for different audiences, including journal manuscripts, scientific reports, policy briefs, research briefs and stakeholder summaries.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams across ILRI's programmes and with external academic, policy and development partners.

Required profile

• Continuing master's student in agriculture, veterinary science, food systems or public health at a recognised university.
• Prior experience in systematic reviews, meta-analyses, scoping reviews or evidence gap maps, especially in agri-food, livestock, public health, gender or environment, is an added advantage.
• Experience with evidence-synthesis workflows and tools such as Covidence, RevMan, Rayyan, SysRev and EPPI-Reviewer.
• Experience with reference management software such as Mendeley, Zotero or EndNote.
• Proficiency in statistical software (e.g. R, STATA, SPSS, Python), including systematic review and meta-analysis packages and scripting.
• Strong skills in data visualisation, forest plots, network graphs and infographics, and excellent writing, editing and communication skills.

What we offer

• A competitive stipend covering living expenses in Nairobi and medical insurance.
• Joint supervision by ILRI and the home university.
• Duration of 3 months.

Applications must include a cover letter, a CV with two referees, academic qualifications and transcripts, and proof of university admission releasing you for the internship. Applications close on 11 November 2026 via the "Apply Now" button; only shortlisted candidates will be contacted, and ILRI charges no fees.