National Research Foundation of South Africa / Science Granting Councils Initiative Opportunities

The SGCI–STISA 2034 call supports multi-country African research consortia in areas including agriculture, health, artificial intelligence and digital technologies, energy, and environment/climate resilience. The Africa-wide call has US$12 million in research grants, requires at least three institutions from at least three SGCI countries, allows up to five co-applicant institutions from five countries, and supports projects of up to 36 months. For the South African stream, the NRF states that successful consortium members may receive up to R1,500,000 over three years, subject to evaluation and approval under NRF and SGCI rules.

For South Africa, principal investigators must be South African citizens or permanent residents, reside in South Africa, and be affiliated with a recognized South African public higher-education or research institution. Researchers from SMEs, private companies, industry and NGOs may participate but cannot serve as the South African PI and are expected to meet their own participation costs. A historically disadvantaged South African institution must form part of the project consortium. The consortium must also satisfy the Africa-wide multi-country requirements.