ALN web site and application system
The ALN scholarship fund was looking for a web site to promote their fund and recruit the most able students from African countries - where they may suffer from unreliable internet connectivity.
ALN is...
... a new scholarship fund set up by Professor Brian Greenwood to support African scientists to undertake a Master's degree in a subject relevant to the control of infectious disease in Africa.
The award winners will undertake an MSc at either the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Japan or at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK. Initially, up to four awards will be made each year for the period 2010 to 2014. Successful applicants will receive a maximum of US$50,000 each to cover tuition fees, travel and living expenses.
Background
In 2008, Brian Greenwood, Manson Professor of Clinical Tropical Medicine at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, was one of two researchers awarded the first Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize by the Government of Japan in recognition of his contribution to research on the control of infectious diseases in Africa where he worked for 30 years before joining the staff of LSHTM.
This award was established in recognition of the work of the Japanese microbiologist Dr Hideyo Noguchi, who died in Ghana in 1928 whilst undertaking research on yellow fever. Professor Greenwood donated all of the prize money to the ALN scholarship fund.
The web site
The web site's main function is to promote the ALN Scholarship Fund, facilitate the application process and recruit up to four African students each year through a rigorous selection procedure - to select the most able students.
A major factor in designing the application system was to enable as many people as possible to apply for the Scholarships, and to cater for people in certain parts of Africa who experience poor and unreliable internet connectivity.
Building on our work from a previous project for LSHTM we enhanced a web-based application system so students who were based throughout Africa could complete and submit their electronic application form to ALN. The review, selection and award of the Scholarships is also supported by the online system.
This web site progressed through the standard development cycle:
- Requirements analysis
- Information Architecture and content production
- Design
- Build including CMS integration
- Testing and go live
The logo was designed by an eminent Japanese artist. Working from this, we designed the web site, produced the content and created the web site which was launched in October 2009.
The application system
To cater for the unpredictable internet connectivity in parts of Africa and the problems applicants would face completing an online application form we created a PDF application form that could be downloaded and completed offline. This solution significantly reduced time spent online and provided the applicants with a form that could be completed offline at any time of their choosing.
Applying
Applicants simply create an account, download the application, complete it and submit it back to ALN by going online and pressing a ‘submit' button within the form. All application data is extracted from the PDF and stored in a central database.
Review process
The system supported the review process by allowing reviewers based in Africa and Europe to download completed PDF applications from the system and review them online or on paper. Each reviewer entered their review scores for each applicant into the system. The Committee then has access to all the reviews and can easily see the average scores for each applicant scored by several reviewers. The Committee's final decision is also stored in the system.
What's next?
Manta Ray Media continues to support ALN's web editor and is the first point of contact for technical queries from applicants with several hundred students registering and applying for each round of applications.
