Swiss Leading House Africa: Research Partnership Grants
The Research Partnership Grants (RPG) aims to supports Swiss researchers in seeding or strengthening existing collaborations with researchers in Africa by funding early-stage joint activities that lay the groundwork for larger collaborative projects and position the collaboration to secure subsequent external funding. Submission deadline: 30.09.2025, 5:00 pm
Eligible Applicants
Lead applicant: Researchers at any career stage affiliated with a Swiss higher-education institution (cantonal universities, Swiss federal institutes of technology, federal and cantonal research institutes, universities of applied sciences and universities of teacher education). Applicants must indicate their career stage in the application. The Swiss lead applicant must be employed as a scientist before, during and on the project completion date. The Lead Applicant shall submit the jointly prepared proposal, developed in collaboration with the African partner. All project-related correspondence with the Leading House will be handled exclusively through the Swiss lead applicant.
Research Career Stage Definition:
Early Career: final-year PhD candidates and researchers with ≤ 2 years of postdoctoral experience
Intermediate Career: > 2 and ≤ 5 years of postdoctoral experience
Advanced Career: > 5 years of postdoctoral experience
Eligible Partner Countries: All African countries except the Maghreb region and Egypt (see FAQs for detailed list).
Eligible Scientific Domains and Methodologies
Open to every scientific field and supports an extensive range of research approaches and methods including laboratory research, desk studies, fieldwork, feasibility or pilot studies, archival work, qualitative interviews, surveys, artistic practices, design thinking, and other collaborative formats.
FUNDING AND BUDGETING
The mutual commitment of the applicants in Switzerland and the African country will serve as an indicator of the strength of the partnership and the project’s financial sustainability. This includes financial co-funding and in-kind contributions by all partners and possibly third-party contributions.
Grant expenditures must stay within the approved budget lines. Awardees may move up to 10% of the total grant between lines without permission from the Swiss Leading House Africa; any larger reallocation requires the Leading House’s written approval in advance.
The grant will be disbursed in two tranches: 80% after signing the grant agreement (contract) and 20% after Swiss Leading House Africa approves the final project report. Any unspent grant must be sent back to the Swiss Leading House Africa no later than 2 months after completion of the project.
Maximum Eligible Budget (by Research Career Stage):
Early Career: up to CHF 15,000
Intermediate Career: up to CHF 25,000
Advanced Career: up to CHF 40,000
- Submission deadline: 30.09.2025; 17:00 CEST
- Notification of results: 30.01.2026
- Latest project start date: 30.04.2026
- Final report due: 30.05.2027
For more information or admission consult the Swiss Leading House Africa website.