Deadline: 12 September 2024

Applications are now open for the Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund 2024 . The Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund was established in 2012 with the generous support of The ALBORADA Trust. The Fund supports pairs of researchers (postdoctoral level and above) from the University of Cambridge (or an affiliated institution such as the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, NIAB and the British Antarctic Survey) and African institutions, across all disciplines, to initiate and/or strengthen research collaborations.

To date, 332 awards have been made to enable Cambridge researchers to interact with African colleagues from 35 African countries. Some awardees have been able to use the preliminary results of their start-up fund/research collaboration to apply for and win significant funding (e.g. Royal Society/Leverhulme Awards, Global Challenges Research Fund, etc.).

Financing

The Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund competitively awards grants of between £1,000 and £20,000 to:

• research costs (such as reagents, field work and equipment)
• research-related trips between Cambridge and Africa
• carrying out research training activities in Africa (e.g. creating courses/workshops).

Eligibility

• Open to Cambridge candidates and candidates from universities/institutes in Africa;
• Both candidates must be at post-doctoral level or above and, when completing the application, it is understood that both are doing so with the support of their Head of Department or equivalent. Both candidates must have a formal link with a research group/department/faculty at their home institution. It is also expected that both candidates will remain employed after the end date of their ALBORADA awards.
• The awards are not intended to support postgraduate students, however limited student support (e.g. as part of a research project or training visit) will be considered where there is a clear demonstration that this will improve the relationship between Cambridge and Africa. Principal Investigators (PIs)
• The Cambridge candidate must work at the University of Cambridge or at a research institute affiliated with the university. Previous successful Cambridge applicants have included those from the Wellcome-Trust Sanger Institute, the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) and the British Antarctic Survey. Cambridge applicants will act as lead applicants, for administrative purposes, as the awards should be paid to their Cambridge departments/faculties/institutes.
• The African candidate must be based at an African research institution or university.

Application

Final submissions must include the following documents:

• Support case and a layman's summary.
• A detailed quote (template provided).
• A letter of support from the CambridgePI department/faculty (For the Engineering Department, a letter of support from the Head of Division is required). An email from an institutional email account is also acceptable.
• A letter of support from the African IP's department/institution.
• CVs (maximum 2 pages) for Cambridge and Africa PI.

The details of two suggested referees are also required; these should be individuals who have no conflicts of interest with the project or researchers (for example, they should not be from the same Department).

The online application form is designed to allow both candidates (based in Cambridge and Africa) to log in, update, save and eventually submit electronically.

To access the form, Cambridge-based candidates must  register here . Only candidates with @cam.ac.uk, @sanger.ac.uk, @babraham.ac.uk, @bas.ac.uk and @niab.com e-mail addresses can register.