Last verified: 21 October 2026. Open call.
Can your university turn an international research relationship into a practical joint programme? This seed call supports early collaboration, making it relevant to African research teams that need to build a credible partnership before pursuing larger research awards.
Opportunity at a glance
| Programme | SASUF–NRF Seed Grants for Intra-Africa Collaborative Research |
|---|---|
| Opportunity type | Research collaboration grant |
| Eligible geography | South Africa, Sweden and eligible SGCI African countries |
| Funding or support | Up to SEK 100,000 plus ZAR 160,000 per consortium |
| Deadline or application window | 3 November 2026; South African institutional approval: 10 November |
Who should consider applying?
A consortium needs at least three universities: a South African SASUF partner, a Swedish SASUF partner and an African university in an eligible SGCI country. South African and Swedish principal investigators must hold PhDs. The official call lists the eligible institutions and countries.
Important limits: This is not an individual scholarship. Salaries, consultant and project-management fees, bursaries and large equipment are excluded. Projects run for 16 months from March 2027.
How to apply
Agree the consortium and workplan, then follow both the Swedish application and NRF submission routes linked in the call. Confirm institutional deadlines before the external closing date.
Read the official programme guidance and follow its application link.
Africads application guidance
The following recommendations are Africads guidance, not additional donor requirements.
- Start with one research uncertainty that the three institutions can resolve together. A list of visits is not yet a research collaboration: explain what each visit produces and who uses the result.
- Give the additional African partner a substantive intellectual role. For example, jointly decide research questions, field access, analysis responsibilities and authorship expectations before writing the proposal.
- Build the budget around outputs such as an agreed protocol, pilot dataset or joint funding concept. Separate travel and workshop costs from staff time that institutions must contribute through other means.
- Plan practical arrangements early: ethics review, data access, visas, procurement and institutional transfers can determine whether a short collaboration actually starts on time.
A practical preparation worksheet
Create a partnership table with one row per university. Record the research contribution, named lead, institutional approval, proposed activity, output, budget share and dependency. Add a final row explaining what the consortium will be able to do after the seed grant that it cannot do today.
Copy these prompts into your working document and add an evidence reference, responsible person and completion date to each answer. Treat missing evidence as a task to resolve, rather than a claim to strengthen with more persuasive wording.
Five questions applicants ask
Can an NGO lead?
The call is structured around university consortia; check the institutional eligibility list.
Is this degree funding?
No. Design a collaborative research activity rather than a personal study request.
Should all partners attend every activity?
Africads recommends funding participation where it has a clear purpose.
Can we recycle an old partnership proposal?
Reassess the current call and show the new work the proposed award enables.
What should we settle first?
Institutional eligibility, complementary roles and both submission routes.
Conclusion and next steps
Prioritise this call if the partnership is already close enough to agree a focused, deliverable research plan. Resolve institutional approvals before polishing the narrative.
For a structured decision on fit, evidence and preparation, use the Africads Grant Funding Toolkit. GrantsWriterAI can help organise a draft; check every statement and budget item against the official rules.
For an opportunity or application review, contact Kimanzi@africadslive.com. Subscribe free to Grant News for verified opportunities and practical funding intelligence. Africads is an independent information service; selection remains the provider’s decision.
