Current funding opportunities
These lists provide the UCT research community with information regarding internal and external grants and awards, NRF funding opportunities and more.
- Internal Funding Opportunities & Awards Nominations
- External Funding Opportunities & Awards Nominations (non-NRF)
- NRF Funding & Grants
- Forthcoming NRF Funding & Awards Nominations
- Other Opportunities & Notices
New funding opportunities are sent out via the Research Announcement newsletter, every second week: Subscribe here.
For specific Faculty of Health Sciences funding opportunities and related events, visit the FHS Research Noticeboard.
For specific Postdoctoral Research Fellowship current and archived grant and funding calls, visit the PDRF Fellowships Noticeboard.
Internal Funding Opportunities & Awards Nominations
Notice | Contact person(s) | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Short Research Visit (SRV) / Short Research Course (SRC) Round 2 | Lezette.Daniels@uct.ac.za | 18 September 2025 |
| URC Conference Travel Grants | Janine.Ramandh@uct.ac.za | 19 September 2025 |
| UCT Enabling Grant Seeker Excellence Awards | Lezette.Daniels@uct.ac.za | 13 October 2025 |
| Innovation Builder Fund (IBF) | Fred.vanderPost@uct.ac.za | 15 October 2025 |
| UCT Industry Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme | Lezette.Daniels@uct.ac.za | 15 October 2025 |
| researchfunding@uct.ac.za | 14 November 2025 |
For more information visit internal funding opportunities or contact Research Support Services.
External Funding Opportunities & Awards Nominations (non-NRF)
Notice | Contact person(s) | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Faculty of Health Sciences: FHS.ResearchFunding@uct.ac.za Other faculties: internationalgrants@uct.ac.za | 18 September 2025 | |
| Zayed Award for Human Fraternity | Amanda.Raman@uct.ac.za | 26 September 2025 |
| DHET University Staff Doctoral Programme (USDP) | Dheshnie.Keswell@uct.ac.za | 23 September 2025 |
| National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) Chairperson nominations | mmojapelo@nstf.org.za | 30 September 2025 |
| Dorcas Muthoni PhD Fellowship, Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona | phd.engineering@upf.edu | 15 January 2026 |
Pivot-RP offers a comprehensive, user-friendly tool to explore funding from international and national funding agencies, private foundations, non-profits, and others. Read more.
NRF Funding & Grants
Application categories | Funding programme | Contact person(s) | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
General Research Grants | |||
| South African-German Collaborative Research Programme on Artificial Intelligence for Societal Transformation (SAG-CORE) | Prince.Khoza@uct.ac.za | 3 October 2025 | |
Non-funding opportunity | currently none | ||
International Research and Mobility Grants | currently none | ||
Travel, Training and Conference Grants | currently none |
Forthcoming NRF Funding & Nominations Awards
Notice | Contact person(s) | Anticipated Call Opening Date |
|---|---|---|
Concept Notes | ||
| Thematic Research: ICT Concept Notes | Prince.Khoza@uct.ac.za | September 2025 |
| Thematic Research: Health Concept Notes | Prince.Khoza@uct.ac.za | September 2025 |
| Thematic Research: Energy Concept Notes | Prince.Khoza@uct.ac.za | September 2025 |
General research grants | ||
| SA - USA (NSF) Research Programme | Robyn.Udemans@uct.ac.za | September 2025 |
| SA-Iran STI Bilateral Research Programme | Prince.Khoza@uct.ac.za | September 2025 |
| SA-Switzerland Lead Agency Funding Opportunity | Natalie.Leroux@uct.ac.za | September 2025 |
| SA - Japan (JSPS) Joint Research Proposals | Prince.Khoza@uct.ac.za | September 2025 |
| Russia: JINR Research and Innovation Grants | Natalie.Leroux@uct.ac.za | September 2025 |
| BRICS STI Multilateral Call | Robyn.Udemans@uct.ac.za | November / December 2025 |
| South Africa–Sweden University Forum (SASUF) | Robyn.Udemans@uct.ac.za | January / February 2026 |
Travel, Training and Conference Grants | ||
| none | ||
Other opportunities & notices
Notice | Contact person(s) | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Honorary Research Associate notice | Research Funding | none |
New funding opportunities are sent out via the Research Announcement newsletter, every second week: Subscribe here.