RFAs: Thematic Research Grant Program (Africa and UK)

They welcome applications from postgraduate students; researchers who have not followed conventional academic careers but whose local knowledge or contacts enable them to conduct high quality research; and/or collaborative projects involving established scholars, where resources are ring-fenced for early career or Africa-based project partners.

Themes

• Research projects must engage with one or more of the following BIEA research themes:
  • Africa in the World;
  • Retelling the Past;
  • Changing Environments;
  • Urban Lives;
  • Technologies of Knowledge;
  • Next Generations.

Funding Information

• Grants are normally between £500 and £1,000, but up to £1,500 may be awarded. Successful applicants will be expected to complete the research by 31 January 2026.

Eligibility Criteria

• Awards can only be made to individuals who have a formal affiliation with a recognized higher educational institution, or a national research/heritage organization.
• Research can be focused in or on any locality in any of the eighteen countries stretching from Sudan to Mozambique that are part of Eastern Africa.
• You must be able to provide one academic/institutional reference by the submission deadline.
• You must be able to secure your own institutional risk assessment and evidence of ethics clearance, a data management plan, and insurance (where necessary).
• You must be able to demonstrate that you can complete the activity by 31 January 2026.
• Grants can be used to cover the cost of economy travel and accommodation or for other costs that directly enable the research.
• Grants cannot be spent on the applicant’s or supervisor’s time, honorariums, institutional overheads, or (in most cases) the cost of equipment or books.
• You must have a plan for publication, and they encourage successful applicants to consider publishing the results of their research in one of their society journals: Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, or the Journal of Eastern African Studies.
• You must be able to demonstrate that you can complete the activity by 31 January 2026.

For more information, visit BIEA.