CONSULTANCY TO FACILITATE OPEN SOURCE CAPACITY STRENGTHENING FOR THE MENTAL HEALTH DATA PRIZE – AFRICA

The African Population and Health Research Center

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is a leading Africa-based, international research and policy institution headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, with a regional office in Dakar, Senegal. Our work contributes to the body of evidence about the critical issues in population health and wellbeing affecting Africa’s development to provide strong direction and recommendations to policy and decision-makers at different levels. Our program priorities are organized under four thematic areas: Human Development, Health and Well-being, Data Science and Evaluation and Population Dynamics and Urbanization in Africa. Our research is implemented within these thematic areas. In addition, the Center has other programmatic areas in Research and Related Capacity Strengthening, and Policy Engagement and Communications, also aligned to the priority program areas.

The Mental Health Data Prize – Africa Project

The Mental Health Data Prize – Africa (MHDP-Africa) Project aims to attract a critical mass of diverse African participants, working with multidisciplinary teams to use existing data to develop solutions for anxiety, depression, and psychosis. The objective is to develop new solutions that can address anxiety, depression, and psychosis within the African context. The project aims to enhance our understanding of what works in preventing, treating and managing anxiety, depression, and psychosis and to drive a transformative change in the African context in ways prioritized by the people who experience these problems. The primary goal of the MHDP-Africa is to produce tangible and scalable outputs or solutions that support mental health research and generate data-driven insights/evidence tailored to the needs and priorities of the African population.

The MHDP-Africa Project is led by a team of APHRC staff specialized in areas of grants management, finance, data science, public health, epidemiology, statistics, communication and public relations. The MHDP-Africa Project is seeking services of a consultant to lead and facilitate the development of and capacity building of our prize winners on open source at different levels of project implementation.

Definitions

Open Source: Refers to software or other creative work whose source code or underlying content is made publicly available under a license that allows users to freely use, modify, and distribute it.

Inception Report: An inception report for this contract would outline the initial plan, including platforms, tools, and workflows for publishing, stakeholder roles, and a timeline, ensuring alignment before execution.

Objective of the consultancy

The project aims to develop the capacity of MH prize winners to use open-source platform for data sharing.  The goal is to enable data scientists to share their project progress (e.g., code, datasets, documentation) on open-source platforms (e.g., GitHub, Kaggle, Zenodo) under licenses that allow free use, modification, and distribution (e.g., MIT, Apache 2.0, CC-BY for data). This promotes transparency, collaboration, and reproducibility in data science. The Consultant will work closely with MHDP-Africa Project team and will be responsible to the MHDP-Africa Project Lead at APHRC. The consultant will lead the development and capacity building of MH data prize winners on use and application of open sources; design and implement a user authentication module for an open-source application.

Scope of Work

1. The consultant is expected to conduct need assessments of prize winners on knowledge and skills about open source and report. Assess the needs of data scientists for publishing (e.g., platforms, formats, licenses).
2. Select and configure appropriate open-source platforms (e.g., GitHub for code, Zenodo for datasets, Jupyter for notebooks).
3. Develop guidelines and templates for publishing code, datasets, and progress reports.
4. The consultant is expected to develop a training plan, content and strategy to promote use of open-source platform and data sharing principles (PLE) in the MHDP – Africa project.
5. Train data scientists on open-source publishing best practices (e.g., version control, metadata, licensing). Assist through training and hands-on development in the creation of a GitHub organization and repository for sharing analysis and metadata created by the grantees.
6. Provide expertise in open-source software development and platforms such as GitHub. This include provision of ad hoc consultancy services as the Client may request which may include ad-hoc video calls or asynchronous conversations over email, or other online platforms, with the mental health data prize grantees.
7. Support grantees publishing data and metadata to increase the findability of mental health datasets. E.g. For each project pilot, the workflow and refine based on feedback.
8. Discuss questions or strategies about open source to foster an environment of open data and software sharing.
9. Prepare a write-up on good practices for open-source platform capacity building and use based on project experiences that can be made publicly available through APHRC or related blog platforms (in French/English/Arabic).
10. Regularly monitor, evaluate and report country-specific MH researchers progress of developing and using the open-source platform.
11. Participate in regular project meetings and update progress and inform the mechanisms to monitor ongoing feedback throughout the project lifecycle
12. Outline and ensure ethical consideration data use, protection and sharing.
13. Submit monthly project progress report to the MHDP project team.

Deliverables

1. Inception Report

• Conduct and prepare a report on the need’s assessment i.e. develop questionnaire and assess open access skills, gaps and experience of data scientists’ involvement in MH research open-source use.

2. Prepare the training materials and submit.

3. Provide training to support and upskill members and upskilling team members.

• Support the team on OS development
• Prepare and submit a report

4. Pilot implementation of the workflow, regularly monitor and provide feedback

5. Lead communication around Open source.

6. Final report including outcomes, refined workflow and user guide.

Responsibilities of the APHRC MHDP – Project Team

• Provide relevant project background documents.
• Liaise and assist in communicating with and mobilizing key
• Handle all logistical
• Closely work with the consultant on the development, implementation, and evaluation of the Open-source capacity building program and data sharing.

Timeframe

The consultancy is expected to be completed in 3 months, spread over 1^st July 2025 – 30^th September 2025.

Qualifications and Experience

The ideal consultant will demonstrate a proven track record in designing and implementing open-source data science publishing workflows. The assignment requires a high level of technical specialization, strong community credibility. The selected candidate or firm must meet the following qualifications:

1. Proven expertise in open-source data science workflows: Demonstrated experience in developing and implementing efficient, reproducible publishing pipelines using platforms such as GitHub, Zenodo, and Kaggle. A portfolio highlighting successful collaborations with major research institutions is essential.
2. Specialized software development skills: Advanced knowledge of software development, with the ability to create scalable, license-compliant publishing systems. Experience using tools like Python, Jupyter Notebooks, and Docker is required.
3. Capacity building experience: Prior involvement in training data scientists on open-source licensing (e.g., MIT, CC-BY) and data science tools. The ability to build rapport and trust with trainees is crucial, as evidenced by positive client feedback and high satisfaction scores from similar engagements (e.g., MHDP project).
4. Rapid deployment capability: Due to the project’s tight timeline, the consultant must be able to commence immediately and leverage pre-existing templates, frameworks, and expertise to deliver quickly and efficiently without compromising quality.
5. Open-source community engagement: A strong reputation in the open-source ecosystem, including direct contributions to widely recognized platforms and demonstrated adherence to open-source principles, is required. This ensures outputs will be credible, trusted, and widely adopted.
6. Ethical and legal data handling: Deep understanding of data privacy, ethics, and legal standards in open-source contexts to ensure sensitive data is managed responsibly, minimizing potential legal and reputational risks.

Application process

Applications should be submitted via email to consultancies@aphrc.org copying procurement@aphrc.org with the email subject “Open Source Capacity Strengthening Consultancy.” The deadline for submission of applications is June 18, 2025. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Cover letters should be addressed to:

People and Culture Business Partner

African Population and Health Research Center, Inc

APHRC Campus, Manga Close, off Kirawa Road, Kitisuru

P.O. Box 10787-GPO, Nairobi

Application documents should include:

• Cover letter describing their eligibility for the assignment and understanding of the TOR.
• Detailed CV of the key personnel.
• Details of the project proposal with detailed approach and plan.
• Work profile including reverse chronological list of similar projects/assignments and contact details (name, email/phone) of supervisors/clients; and
• An all-inclusive financial proposition with the expected remuneration. It includes fees for the deliverables, travel costs and any other applicable costs.

Special Notice

APHRC is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational needs. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process.

Applicants are not required to make any payments to anyone during any stage of the recruitment process.