The University Equipment Committee seeks to advance, extend, and support the research equipment infrastructure of UCT in concert with the research strategies of UCT, the faculties and departments. Equipment may be defined as a facility or system that is used for research purposes and that provides experimental, analytical, processing, testing, measurement, storing, housing, preparation, performative or recording capabilities. The UEC considers applications for funding of either single, or multiple items of equipment which together constitute a coherent unit. 

Award details 

Refer to application form R&I18 for details 

Eligibility 

• Permanent academic staff 

• Academic staff on T2 contracts of at least 5 years 

• Joint PGWC/UCT academic staff in Health Sciences on UCT Conditions of Service (excluding registrars).  

Submission deadline  
23 May 2025  

Download the full call for more information and the R&I18 form to apply 

The Wellcome Early-Career Awards scheme is soliciting applications from early-career researchers from any discipline who are ready to develop their research identity. Through innovative projects, they should deliver shifts in understanding that could improve human life, health, and wellbeing. By the end of the award, successful candidates should be equipped to lead their own independent research programme. 

Award details  
PI salary for up to five years and up to £400 000 for research purposes. 

Eligibility  
Early-Career Researchers 

Download the PDF outlining UCT’s deadlines for internal approval.    

Funder deadline:  
Three deadlines annually, with the next one for 2025 being 22 May 

The Cancer Grand Challenges is a global research initiative that identifies the toughest challenges in cancer research. By daring global teams of multidisciplinary researchers to come together and think differently, this programme aims to find bold new solutions to challenges which have confounded scientists for many years. 

The seven new challenges now open for applications are:  

1. AI-human collaboration in cancer 

2. Cancer avoidance 

3. The dark proteome 

4. Mechanisms driving mutational signatures 

5. The nervous system and cancer 

6. Rewiring cancer cells 

7. TME dynamics 

Award details  
Awards of up to £20m ($25m) are available  

Eligibility  

A diverse team of multidisciplinary researchers, based in different countries, with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as a Principal Investigator with Co-Investigators 

Download the PDF outlining UCT’s deadlines for internal approval    

Funder deadline:  
Expression of Interest:18 June 2025 

The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (RSTMH) is seeking applications for the Early Career Grants Programme. The overall aim of the programme is to encourage and inspire the next generation of global health leaders, innovators, and professionals by providing the opportunity for them to carry out projects which could improve tropical medicine or global health. Applications can be on any topic related to tropical medicine and global health, from across the research spectrum of lab, translation, implementation, and policy. 

Award details  
Grants of up to £5,000 are available for a period of one year 

Eligibility  
Early career researchers 

A Guidance Webinar on completing an application to the 2025 programme will be hosted on 26 March, 12.00-1.30PM GMT.  Register attendance for the webinar 

Download the PDF outlining UCT’s deadlines for internal approval    

Funder deadline:  
14 May 2025 

The Spencer Foundation Small Research Grants on Education Program supports education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education, broadly conceived. This program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not in response to a specific request for a particular research topic, discipline, design, method, or location.   

The goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious, and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education. This program supports proposals from multiple disciplinary and methodological perspectives, both domestically and internationally, from scholars at various stages in their career. It is anticipated that proposals will span a wide range of topics and disciplines that innovatively investigate questions central to education, including for example education, anthropology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, law, economics, history, or neuroscience, amongst others. 

Award details  

• Proposed budgets for this program are limited to US$50,000 total.  

• Projects proposed may not be longer than 5 years in duration.  

Eligibility  

• Proposals must be for academic research projects that aim to study education.  

• Proposals for activities other than research are not eligible. 

• Proposals for research studies focused on areas other than education, are not eligible.  

• Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs applying must have a doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or appropriate experience in an education research-related profession. 

Download the PDF outlining UCT’s deadlines for internal approval    

Funder deadline:  
16 April 2025 

The International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) Research Grant is part of the Collaborative Research Programme (CRP) of ICGEB and is a dedicated source of funding aimed at financing projects that address scientific problems of relevance for the host country. The programme provides support for original research projects in basic life sciences, human healthcare, industrial and agricultural biotechnology, and bioenergy (See call guidelines for further details). 

The programme has the following aims:  

• Stimulating collaborative research between ICGEB Member States and with the ICGEB Component laboratories  

• Promoting the training of young scientists  

• Facilitating the creation of appropriate research facilities  

Award details  
Grants of up to £25,000 are available for a maximum period of three years 

Eligibility  

• Researchers who hold positions at Universities or Research Institutions with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Principal Investigator   

• A special category of CRP – ICGEB Early Career Return Grants is intended to fund young researchers not over 40 years old at the time of application with an outstanding track record, who have spent a minimum of 2 years abroad and have recently returned to an ICGEB Member State- to establish their own independent laboratories. 

Download the PDF outlining UCT’s deadlines for internal approval    

Funder deadline:  
30 April 2025 

The International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) is offering the Neuroscience Capacity Accelerator for Mental Health (NCAMH), which aims to accelerate the development of impactful neuroscience research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) by strengthening local capacities through targeted training and fostering collaborative research projects. The goal is to leverage neuroscience to drive progress in both basic and translational research on anxiety, depression and psychosis. This call seeks to fund projects that enhance our understanding of these conditions and/or identify new approaches for predicting, stratifying, and intervening as early as possible. 

Award details  
Grants of up to USD $60,000  

Eligibility  
Researchers with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Principal Investigator   

Download the PDF outlining UCT’s deadlines for internal approval    

Funder deadline:  
30 April 2025 

The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) in partnership with the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) through the Strategic Health Innovation Partnerships program (SHIP) is pleased to announce the call for applications for HIV Research and Innovation. 

This call is aimed at harnessing the core scientific strengths and infrastructure of South Africa and partners to advance the development of improved HIV prevention, testing, and therapeutic options in the country. This request for applications seeks to fund collaborative projects between institutions rather than small, siloed projects. Research projects should address the focal areas of: i) HIV cure and treatment, ii) Diagnosis, iii) Prevention and iv) Other (See MRC-RFA-SHIP-03-2025 for further details). 

Award details: 
The total amount available for this RFA is approximately R60,000,000, with successful proposals to be awarded for a maximum duration of 2 years 

Eligibility: 
Researchers with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Principal Investigator   

Download the PDF outlining UCT’s deadlines for internal approval   

Funder deadline: 
30 April 2025 

The inaugural American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Grant for Innovative Bladder Cancer Research seeks to encourage the development of novel approaches to address bladder cancer. Applications are invited from researchers currently in the field as well as investigators with experience in other areas of cancer or biomedical research who have promising ideas and approaches that can be applied to bladder cancer research. See program guidelines for more information. 

Award details  
Grants of up to USD $50,000, over one year 

Eligibility  

• Applicants must have a doctoral degree (PhD, MD, MD/PhD, DVM, DVM/PhD, or the equivalent) 

• Researchers who hold positions at Universities or Research Institutions with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Principal Investigator   

Download the PDF outlining UCT’s deadlines for internal approval    

Funder deadline:  
05 June 2025 

The Spencer Foundation Large Research Grants on Education Program supports education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education, broadly conceived. This program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not in response to a specific request for a particular research topic, discipline, design, method, or location.   

The goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious, and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education. This program supports proposals from multiple disciplinary and methodological perspectives, both domestically and internationally, from scholars at various stages in their career. It is anticipated that proposals will span a wide range of topics and disciplines that innovatively investigate questions central to education, including for example education, anthropology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, law, economics, history, or neuroscience, amongst others. 

Award details  
Grants between $125,000 -$500,000, for up to 5 years.  

Eligibility  

• Proposals must be for academic research projects that aim to study education. Proposals for activities other than research are not eligible. Additionally, proposals for research studies focused on areas other than education, are not eligible.  

• Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs applying must have a doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or appropriate experience in an education research-related profession. 

Download the PDF outlining UCT’s deadlines for internal approval 
 

Funder deadline:  
17 June 2025 (complete the ‘Intent to apply’ form by 14 May to access the application portal).