Royal Society Rising Star Africa Prize

The Grant will be made in one payment after attending the Royal Society to deliver the Prize Lecture and awarding ceremony.

Purpose of the Grant

• The Grant is intended to be spent on a research project which has the potential to continue after the 12 months of the Grant.
• The Grant is designed to promote capacity building within Africa.
• The Recipient of the Prize may not use the funds to support their own salary/personal remuneration or as a salary for research assistants.

Prize Information

• The Prize will make a grant of £14,000, including VAT where applicable, to the Recipient for a research project and £1,000 as a personal prize for the Recipient.

Reporting Requirements

• The Recipient of the Prize is required to submit a report after 6 months (upon receiving the Grant) and again after 12 months detailing the progress of their research, the progress of their project and the expenditure of the Grant.

Ethical Permission

• The Recipient must ensure that, before the research commences and during the full Prize period, all the necessary national and local ethical, legal and regulatory requirements in order to conduct the research are met, and all the necessary licenses and approvals have been obtained.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Royal Society Rising Star Africa Prize is open to African citizens. It is restricted to early career scientists with no more than 15 years since achieving their PhD (not including career breaks) and nominations will remain valid and shall be considered by the award selection committee throughout three nomination cycles.

Conditions

• The Prize is intended for researchers at an early stage of their research career (less than 15 years after receiving PhD) with the potential to build a research project to follow on from the Prize.
• The research must be based in Africa.
• The Recipients must notify the Royal Society of any change in their status or location.
• The Recipients will also be awarded a specially struck commemorative medal and they are expected to receive the Prize in person at a at an awarding ceremony which will take place at the Royal Society, except in exceptional circumstances such as ill-health.
• This award comes with a Prize Lecture which the recipient is expected to deliver on the evening of the awarding ceremony.
• Nominations can be made by senior academics and members of the national academies of science.
• The project and nominee should be linked with an African centre of excellence, which would normally be a university, or equivalent research centre.
• Normally the Prize is given to an individual who has not yet reached full Professorship status.

For more information, visit The Royal Society.