Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited has opened applications for its 2027 Sabbatical and Postgraduate Research Internship Programme, offering 12-month industry placements to university lecturers and Nigerian postgraduate students.
The programme is designed to strengthen collaboration between academia and the oil and gas industry by providing participants with practical industry exposure and opportunities to undertake research aligned with the business objectives of Renaissance Africa Energy and its Joint Venture partners.
Renaissance Africa Energy operates the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Renaissance, TotalEnergies and Agip Energy and Natural Resources Joint Venture.
The programme has two tracks: a 12-month non-renewable sabbatical attachment for university lecturers and a 12-month non-renewable postgraduate research internship for Nigerian students pursuing M.Sc., M.Phil. or PhD degrees.
Sabbatical Attachment for University Lecturers
The sabbatical programme is open to university lecturers at the rank of Senior Lecturer and above.
Successful applicants will undertake research and other activities that support Renaissance Africa Energy’s business objectives. They will also gain industry experience and have opportunities to contribute to teaching and research activities at the Renaissance JV Centres of Excellence.
Available teams and areas of specialisation include:
- Environment: Impact Assessment and Biodiversity, Environmental Toxicology, Air Quality Assessment, Hydrobiology, Water Chemistry, Hydrogeology, Ecology and related disciplines.
- Corporate Relations – Social Performance: Social Impact Assessment and Management.
- Corporate Relations – Host Community Development: Host Community Development Trust (HCDT) and Stakeholder Relations.
- Community Health: Consultant Community Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Paediatrics.
- Nigerian Content Development: A Professor in any Engineering discipline with an interest in Process or Project Engineering.
- NNPC/Renaissance JV Centre of Excellence in Geosciences and Petroleum Engineering, University of Benin: Geology, Geophysics and Petroleum Engineering.
- NNPC/Renaissance JV Centre of Excellence in Marine and Offshore Engineering, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt: Marine and Offshore Engineering, and Naval Architecture.
- Exploration: Geology, Geophysics and the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in exploration workflows.
Postgraduate Research Internship
The postgraduate research internship is open to Nigerian students pursuing M.Sc., M.Phil. or PhD degrees who are interested in gaining industry experience and conducting research on topics relevant to Renaissance Africa Energy’s operations.
The available disciplines and requirements include:
- Environment: Impact Assessment and Environmental Compliance Monitoring.
- Occupational Health: Health Promotion, Epidemiology and Statistics.
- Pipeline Availability: PhD candidates in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering or Oil and Gas Engineering. Applicants must have at least three years of pipeline engineering experience in design, construction or integrity assessment.
- Exploration: PhD candidates in Geology or Geophysics with an interest in applying AI to exploration workflows.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates are required to submit their applications and supporting documents by email to university-relations@renaissanceafrica.com.
Applicants must use the relevant team or discipline as the email subject line.
The required documents are:
- Application letter: Clearly stating the team or discipline of interest.
- Curriculum vitae: Including a contact phone number, email address and contact details of three referees.
- Additional requirement for sabbatical applicants: A titled, one-page summary explaining how the applicant intends to contribute to Renaissance Africa Energy’s business during the 12-month attachment.
- Additional requirement for research internship applicants: A research proposal outlining the study background, technical objectives, methodology, data requirements and expected outcomes.
Application Deadline and Important Information
Applications opened on 23 October 2026 and will close on 6 November 2026. Late submissions will not be considered.
