Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Grants for Sub-Saharan African (Including Sudan) Researchers 2017

Application Deadline:  Sunday 25th June 2017.

Eligible Countries:  Sub-Saharan African Countries (Including Sudan)

Fields of Grant: Applications should generally fall into one of these four research-related categories:

1. Workshop/research training course, in Africa
2. Travel between Cambridge and Africa
3. Research Project
4. Equipment

About the Award: The Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund competitively awards grants of between £1,000 and £20,000, for:

• research costs (such as reagents, fieldwork and equipment)
• research-related travel between Cambridge and Africa
• conducting research training activities in Africa (e.g. setting up courses/workshops).

To date, 116 awards have been made, to enable Cambridge researchers to engage with African researchers from 14 African countries. Some awardees have been able to use the preliminary results from their seed fund research/collaboration to apply for and win significant funding (e.g. Royal Society/Leverhulme Awards, Global Challenges Research Fund, etc.).

Type: Grants

Eligibility: 

• Applications should be submitted jointly by an applicant based in Cambridge and an applicant based in a university or research institution in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Both applicants must be at post-doctoral level or above, and by completing an 2 application it is understood that they are both doing so with support from their Senior Researcher/Head of Group/Principle Investigator, if they are not in this position themselves.
• Both applicants should have a formal link to a research group/department/faculty in their home institution.
• The Cambridge applicant must be either working at the University of Cambridge, or at a research Institute affiliated with the University. Previous successful Cambridge applicants have included those from: Wellcome-Trust Sanger Institute; MRC Human Nutrition Research; National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB).
• The African applicant must be from a sub-Saharan African research Institution or university. The Cambridge applicants will act as the lead applicants, for administrative purposes, as the awards have to be paid to their Cambridge departments/faculties/institutes.
• Requests for additional support from returning Cambridge or African recipients will only be considered in the following instances:
  • For supporting courses and workshops in Africa that have been previously funded, or are new. Applicants must provide justification that includes evidence that other sources of funding have been sought, and what plans there are for future funding sustainability. Also, a report(s) should have been submitted for the previous funding received
  • Request for funding for research (reagents, equipment or travel) with the old or a new collaborator, but for a new project. Report(s) should have been submitted for the previous funding received.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Program: Grants are between £1,000 and £20,000. Awards will range from £1,000 – £20,000, and limits apply for categories as follows:

• Maximum of £20,000 for applications in the sciences (including equipment)
• Maximum of £6,000 for applications in the social sciences and humanities
• Maximum of £5,000 for a workshop/course in Africa
• Maximum of £3,000 for a travel award

How to Apply: 

• The online application form has been designed to allow both applicants (Cambridge- and Africa-based) to log in, update, save and eventually submit electronically.
• To access the form, the Cambridge based applicant must Register Here. Only applicants with @cam.ac.uk, @sanger.ac.uk and @niab.ac.uk email addresses can register.
• The Cambridge-based applicant must then log in to the ALBORADA Research Fund application form, where they will see the words “Invite a 2nd applicant to view/edit this submission”. Click on this link in order to invite the Africa-based applicant to register and edit the forms.

Visit Program Webpage for details

Award Provider: The ALBORADA Trust.

Important Notes:  All equipment purchased using the Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund must be for use in Africa, and must remain with the African partner institution/university upon completion of the project.