The Cambridge University Mastercard Research Fund aims to catalyze new and strengthen existing collaborations between researchers in Africa and Cambridge and support high-quality training activities.
The Climate Resilience and Sustainability Research offers a Fund Research Catalyst Grant for up to £20,000 or a Workshop Grant for up to £50,000.
Eligibility Requirements
To be considered for the Climate Resilience and Sustainability Research Fund, the criteria involves:
- Awards are made to pairs of researchers (post-doctoral and above although due consideration will be given for equivalent experience), one from an African university or research institution and one from the University of Cambridge.
- We encourage applications from across the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and arts and from all academic subject areas.
- We particularly encourage innovative research. Multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research proposals and research-related training activities are welcomed.
Benefits
- The research fund is supported by a generous £7.7million investment by the Mastercard Foundation and will run from 2025 to 2030.
- The Mastercard Foundation and University of Cambridge Climate Resilience and Sustainability Research Fund will follow an annual cycle of awards until 2029 when the award will support activities for the year 2029-30. It is anticipated that most awards will be made for activities that will take place over a 12-month period.
- In this round, applications can be made for a Research Catalyst Grant for up to £20,000 or a Workshop Grant for up to £50,000. It is anticipated that many awardees will be able to use the preliminary results from their research catalyst grant to apply for and win significant funding from other funding bodies.
Required Documents
To apply, candidates must be ready to submit the following documents;
- Application Form
- Case for support
- An itemised budget (template provided)
- A lay summary
- A letter ofsupport from the department/faculty of the Cambridge-based PI. (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 department/institution of the Africa-based PI. An email from an
institutional email account is also acceptable. - CVs (maximum 2 pages) for both the Cambridge-based and Africa-based PI
- The details of two suggested referees are also required; these should be individuals who have no conflicts of interest with the applicants (e.g. they should not be from the same Department).
Method of Application
Click Here to Apply
Application Deadline: March 21, 2025.
