About this opportunity
This call exists to widen the map of who collaborates with whom. Rather than a two country pairing, the SASUF-NRF Seed Grants ask for a consortium that brings together a Swedish partner university, a South African partner university and a university in one of the 19 African countries taking part in the Science Granting Councils Initiative, Nigeria among them.
The idea is to build multilateral relationships that outlive the seed grant itself. Each consortium works within a stated budget rule, "The requested budget may not exceed: SEK 100,000 (SASUF contribution); and ZAR 160,000 (NRF contribution) per consortium project.
A maximum of 20 consortium projects will be funded. " The money is meant for collaboration rather than for running a study, so eligible costs cover postgraduate student exchange, general research mobility, joint workshops, seminars, conferences and symposia, lecture presentations and meetings that reach stakeholders and end users outside the consortium.
Consultant fees, project management fees, educational expenses in the form of scholarships and bursaries, large equipment and salaries are excluded. Projects should sit inside one or more of the four SASUF research themes, Sustainable Health, Green Transition, Migration and Urbanisation, and Democracy, Social Justice and Indigenous Knowledge Systems.
The call specifically encourages early and mid-career researchers working alongside established ones, and it wants doctoral candidates to gain real experience of international collaboration. Two submission doors apply, an application template filed by the Swedish principal investigator and the NRF Connect portal used by the South African principal investigator, and a designated authority
Application timeline
of 10 November 2026 applies to South African applicants only.
What you receive
- A seed budget of SEK 100,000 from SASUF and ZAR 160,000 from the NRF per consortium project
- Funding for postgraduate student exchange programmes and general research related mobility
- Support for joint workshops, seminars, conferences and symposia, plus lecture presentations
- Funds for meetings and regional dissemination with stakeholders and end users outside the consortium
- A route into the SASUF Beyond Borders network, with funds transferable to eligible African partner universities or to the named consortium
- Real space for doctoral candidates to take part in international collaboration, mentorship and knowledge exchange
Who can apply
- All Swedish and South African applicants must be based at one of the SASUF partner universities, drawn from the 37 member institutions
- The additional African partner university must be based in one of the 19 countries taking part in the Science Granting Councils Initiative. The page names Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, so a Nigerian university qualifies.
- Eligible African partners include both public and private universities in the SGCI participating countries
- A proposal is eligible only if it includes participants from at least one South African SASUF partner university, one Swedish SASUF partner university and one additional African university from an SGCI participating country, so a minimum of three consortium members. Further partners from South Africa, Sweden or any SGCI country may join where their role is clearly justified.
- Proposals should address one or more of the four SASUF research themes
- Requested budgets must stay within SEK 100,000 for the SASUF contribution and ZAR 160,000 for the NRF contribution per project
Who should not apply
- Consultant fees and project management fees are not eligible costs
- Educational expenses in the form of scholarships and bursaries are not funded
- Large equipment and salaries or temporary staff costs cannot be charged to the grant
Documents to prepare
- The SASUF-NRF Seed Grant application template, submitted by the Swedish principal investigator
- The NRF Connect submission through the application portal, completed by the South African principal investigator
- A consortium budget that stays within the SEK 100,000 and ZAR 160,000 ceilings
- A project description mapped to one or more of the four SASUF research themes
How to apply
- Read the call page at https://www.sasuf.org/sasuf-nrf-seed-grants-for-intra-africa-collaborative-research-1 and check the partner university list at https://www.sasuf.org/partneruniversities
- Confirm the consortium includes a Swedish SASUF partner, a South African SASUF partner and a university in an SGCI participating African country
- Choose the SASUF research theme or themes your project addresses
- Prepare the application template as the Swedish principal investigator
- Submit through the NRF Connect portal as the South African principal investigator, noting the designated authority deadline of 10 November 2026 for South African applicants
- Send any clarifications to sasuf@uu.se
Sources and verification
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Questions applicants ask
Can a Nigerian university take part?
Yes. Nigeria is one of the 19 countries in the Science Granting Councils Initiative, and the call states that the additional African partner university must be based in one of those countries. Both public and private universities qualify.
How much can a consortium request?
The requested budget may not exceed SEK 100,000 from the SASUF contribution and ZAR 160,000 from the NRF contribution per consortium project. A maximum of 20 projects are funded.
Can the grant pay a student scholarship?
No. Educational expenses such as scholarships and bursaries are listed among the costs that are not eligible, alongside consultant fees, project management fees, large equipment and salaries.
What happens after the 3 November deadline?
South African applicants have a further designated authority deadline on 10 November 2026. Screening and review run through December 2026 and January 2027, award decisions and contracting follow in February 2027, funded projects start on 1 March 2027 and end on 1 July 2028, with final reports due 31 July 2028.
When is the deadline?
Applications are due by 3 November 2026, the date printed on the SASUF call page.
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