The British Academy
International Partnerships (Africa) Scheme
In an initiative developed by the British Academy's Area Panels, awards of up to £10,000 a year for up to three years are available to support the development of ongoing links between research centres or institutions, within the humanities and social sciences, in the UK and in Africa. The link would be built around a specific research theme of mutual interest. This could be carried forward through visits in both directions; workshops; seminars and lecture programmes; collaborative research; and joint publications. The programme might form part of either institution's training programme and will ideally involve participation from more than one overseas institution, and might also involve more than one department/university/group/research centre in the UK.
Aim of Award
The scheme is intended to foster links between the UK and Africa, with an emphasis on helping scholars to develop research skills and to produce a joint research outcome.
Scope
Priority will be given to projects with a training element, such as the support and development of staff or postgraduate students (in the UK and overseas). The scheme is intended to benefit early-career scholars from both the UK and overseas, and projects will be highly regarded where they include junior academics from both sides. Visits might be undertaken for staff exchange, supplying teaching elements to courses and developing joint curricula. Workshops and seminars should form an integral part of the programme, and involve both staff and postgraduate students. It is expected that each programme should produce papers or some other joint research outcome designed for publication.
Eligibility
Applicants must be of postdoctoral or equivalent status (i.e. academic staff with at least one or two years of teaching/ research experience)
Level of Grant
Grants are offered up to a maximum of £10,000 per year for up to 3 years.
Closing Date
The closing date for applications is 20. April 2010. Decisions will be announced in mid-July.
Applications must be submitted via egap.britac.ac.uk , the Academy's electronic grant application system.
Further information together with application forms and notes of guidance are available from the Academy's website.
Partnership funding
There are a variety of ways in which research funding can cover the
support of partnerships between researchers in African and in UK universities. In addition, however, a
number of funding agencies are establishing funding mechanisms
specifically for such links or partnerships.
The British Academy is contemplating a scheme, provisionally entitled,
‘UK-Africa Academic Partnerships’ (keep a watch on their website), in
addition to their existing Visiting Fellowships programme.
The British Academy
The British Council ‘Links Programme’ has been recently reviewed and is
to be relaunched in 2006 as ‘British Council/DFID Development Partnerships
in Higher Education.
The British Council
The Association of Commonwealth Universities and the Association of
African Universities, through the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission
provide funding for scholars and their visits and links around the
Commonwealth. They are currently considering a new programme allowing for
the development of a ‘hybrid career’ structure for academics involving
periods in UK (or other Commonwealth) universities and periods in home
universities elsewhere. Keep a watch on their website for further
developments:
Association of Commonwealth
Universities
A number of universities around the UK support visiting Fellowships of
one kind or another. Of particular interest to ASAUK members will be the
schemes operating in Centres of African Studies
Cadbury Fellowships at the
Centre of West African Studies, University of Birmingham
African Studies Visiting
Research Fellowships at the Centre of African Studies, University of
Cambridge
Leventis Fellowships (Nigeria), and East African Visiting Fellowships at the Centre of African Studies, University of London, SOAS.
Other Centres of African Studies at Oxford and Edinburgh have
programmes that involve visitors from African universities funded through
a variety of initiatives.
