Applications are hereby invited from Researchers to submit their applications for the highly regarded Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund.
The Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund aims to catalyze new and strengthen existing collaborations between researchers in Africa and the University of Cambridge. This initiative supports high-quality training activities and fosters impactful research partnerships. Awards are granted to pairs of researchers—one from an African university or research institution and one from the University of Cambridge or affiliated research institutes. Since its establishment in 2012, the fund has facilitated 332 awards, enabling Cambridge researchers to engage with colleagues from 35 African countries. Some awardees have leveraged their seed fund results to secure significant external funding.
Aims and Fundamentals
An important function of the Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund is to act as a seed fund/catalyst to enable the development of new research activity and further joint funding applications. Priority will be given to applications that build new partnerships (or expand existing ones) with the potential for long-term collaboration. Projects should
also ideally strengthen research capacity of the African researcher and/or the African research institution/university.
Awards Categories and Value
Applications should generally fall into one of these four research-related categories:
Travel Award (Cambridge/Africa or Africa/Cambridge): £5000
Support for a workshop or research training course in Africa: £10,000
Equipment: £20,000
Research project: £20,000
Eligibility and Requirements
The Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund encourages research, training, and engagement activities between Cambridge and Africa. Here are the eligibility criteria:
Both applicants must be at post-doctoral level or above.
The Cambridge applicant must work at the University of Cambridge or a Research Institute affiliated with the University.
The African applicant must be based in an African Research Institution or University.
Applications should demonstrate true collaboration and build new partnerships (or expand existing ones) with potential for long-term collaboration.
Projects should ideally strengthen research capacity of the African researcher and/or the African research institution.
Limited support for students (e.g., as part of a research project or training visit) will be considered if it enhances the relationship between the Cambridge and African Principal Investigators (PIs).
The fund does not cover overheads or administration costs.
Application Procedure and Documents
Both applicants must register and complete a saveable online application form, available on the Cambridge-Africa website. Final submissions should include the following documents:
Case for support and a lay summary
An itemised budget (template provided)
A letter of support from the department/faculty of the CambridgePI. (For the Department of Engineering, a letter of support from the Head of Division is needed). An email from an institutional email account is also acceptable.
A letter of support from the institution of the AfricanPI
CVs (maximum 2 pages) for both the 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 investigators (e.g. they should not be from the same Department).
➢ The deadline for submission is 12th September 2024 and applications can be submitted at any time before this. Any
queries should be sent to: (alboradafund@cambridge-africa.cam.ac.uk)
➢ Read carefully the Terms & Conditions including eligibility criteria, before applying.
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