Description

The South Africa-Sweden University Forum (SASUF), in partnership with South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF), announces the SASUF-NRF Seed Grants supporting interdisciplinary research collaboration across four thematic areas.

Call Open: 17 March 2026

Deadline for all applicants: 10 June 2026

Deadline for DA submission (South African applicants only): 18 June 2026

Maximum number of funded projects: 20 consortia

About the Grant

Building on earlier work, the third funded phase of SASUF (SASUF+) launches these seed grants with a clear focus on academia-industry collaboration. The grants support researchers’ mobility within joint research projects, provide opportunities for next-generation and emerging researchers to cooperate in an international setting, and contribute to research capacity development.

All projects will be supported for a maximum duration of 2 years, starting from 1 September 2026.

Thematic Areas

• Sustainable Health
• Green Transition
• Migration and Urbanisation
• Democracy, Social Justice, and Indigenous Knowledge Systems

Funding

• SASUF portion: maximum 100,000 SEK per consortium project
• NRF portion: maximum 160,000 ZAR per consortium project
• The NRF portion is disbursed to the South African PI; the SASUF portion is allocated to the Swedish PI
• Industry partners are welcome to offer financial or in-kind support
• Leveraged funds must be clearly indicated in the application

Eligible activities include: postgraduate student exchange programmes, general research-related mobility, joint workshops, seminars, conferences and symposia, lecture presentations, and meetings or local/regional dissemination of research results involving stakeholders or end-users from outside the consortium.

Not funded: consultant fees, project management fees, educational expenses (scholarships or bursaries), large equipment, and salaries or temporary staff fees.

Eligibility

All applicants must be based at a SASUF partner university. See the full list at: https://www.sasuf.org/partneruniversities

A proposal must include participants from at least two South African universities, two Swedish universities, and one South African or Swedish organisation, industry partner, or NGO. A minimum of five consortia members is required. Each proposal must nominate one Principal Investigator (PI) based in South Africa and one based in Sweden. PIs must hold a PhD. Each consortium may submit only one proposal, and a researcher cannot serve as PI on more than one proposal.

Former SASUF beneficiaries are welcome to participate, provided the project is not a continuation of a past project.

The involvement of Historically Disadvantaged Institutions (HDIs) and Universities of Technology (UOTs) in South Africa is highly encouraged, including: CPUT, CUT, DUT, MUT, SMU, TUT, UFH, UL, UWC, UNIVEN, UNIZULU, VUT, and WSU.

Key Dates

How to Apply

South African PIs must submit their consortia proposals through the NRF Connect system at https://nrfconnect.nrf.ac.za, with the following compulsory documents in PDF format:

1. CVs of all consortia partners.
2. Institutional support letter (Dean/HOD/Director).
3. Institutional Support letter of Swedish Principal Investigator.
4. Industry partner letter of participation and support with clear indications of roles and responsibilities.
5. NGO, NPGO, civil society partners’ letter of participation with clear indications of roles and responsibilities.
6. Detailed Project Plan/ Schedule of project activities.
7. Detailed budget of the South African Principal Investigator.
8. Detailed Budgets of the Swedish Principal Investigator.

Failure to submit compulsory documents will result in disqualification of the entire consortium.

The Swedish PIs must submit their consortia proposal by email to [email protected]. A call guideline with instructions will be made available once the call is open.