Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund
Cambridge-Africa Programme, University of Cambridge
Collaborative research grants of GBP 1,000-25,000 for pairs of post-doctoral researchers, one at the University of Cambridge and one at any African university or research institute (Ghana eligible), any discipline. 2026 call open; deadline 3 Sep 2026; outcomes end of October.
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Eligibility
- Who can apply
- Africa
- Education required
- Phd completed
- Fields
- Any field of study
- Residency
- African applicant must be employed at a university in Africa or a research institute of equivalent standing; Cambridge applicant must work at the University of Cambridge or an affiliated research institute
- Also required
- Joint application by a pair: one Cambridge-based researcher and one Africa-based researcher
- Both applicants at post-doctoral level or above; awards are not intended to support postgraduate students
- Both applicants must hold an employment contract with a research group/department/faculty at their home institution
- Cambridge applicant registers with a @cam.ac.uk, @sanger.ac.uk, @babraham.ac.uk, @bas.ac.uk or @niab.com address and invites the African applicant
About this opportunity
The Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund (est. 2012) awards GBP 1,000-25,000 to pairs of researchers - one from the University of Cambridge (or the Sanger Institute, NIAB, British Antarctic Survey or Babraham Institute) and one from an African university or research institute - for collaborations in any discipline. 392 awards have gone to researchers from 38 African countries; the African partner may be anywhere in Africa.
Grants fund research costs such as reagents, fieldwork and equipment (up to GBP 25,000) or research-training activities in Africa (up to GBP 15,000), typically over 6-18 months; they cannot pay overheads, salaries, bench fees, publication costs or conference travel. Both applicants must be at post-doctoral level or above with employment contracts; postgraduate students are not supported. The Cambridge applicant registers first and invites the African partner.
- Level
- Postdoc, Early career
- Where
- Multiple countries
- Duration
- Most grants run 6-18 months
- Difficulty
- Medium · about 3 weeks to prepare
Funding
Partially funded
- research costs
- training
- travel
GBP 1,000-25,000: up to GBP 25,000 for research projects (reagents, fieldwork, equipment) and up to GBP 15,000 for research training workshops in Africa. Cannot cover overheads, PI salaries, administration costs, bench fees, publication costs or conference attendance.
What you will need
- Project or business proposal
- CV / résumé
- Reference letters (2)
- Other documents
Uploaded online: case for support, itemised budget (template provided), a letter of support from the department/faculty of the Cambridge PI, a letter of support from the department/institution of the African PI, and CVs (max 2 pages) for both PIs. The two letters are institutional support letters rather than personal references.
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