South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF), the AXA Research Fund (AXA), and the Future Earth Africa Hub have jointly announced the launch of a new scientific award for African researchers – the African Scientific Progress Award (ASPA). The new award has been endowed with €440 000, and will support and empower five African researchers (one being selected from each of the continent’s five regions – North, East, Southern, Central and West Africa).

“The NRF is delighted to partner up with AXA for yet another initiative to support our early career researchers by, among a range of things, providing opportunities for fellowship, training, mentoring as well as networking and collaboration,” highlighted NRF CEO Dr Fulufhelo Nelwamondo.

“The initiative will avail resources to early career researchers from our continent for their research. This will be instrumental to increasing scientific output across the continent, and also grow the pool of academics for our institutions. It is significant to the NRF that this partnership will be implemented through the Future Earth Africa Hub, which is another significant international partnership in which we’re involved.”

Candidates for the ASPA need to have a PhD, plus a minimum of three years of active research (but career breaks of up to three years will be considered). They must be citizens of African countries. The candidates must also show that they have begun to build a record in their selected research fields and that they have the potential to be future research leaders. They must also be interested in developing international, particularly pan-African, connections, and they must openly share their research.

“We are thrilled to launch this one-of-a-kind initiative that aims to catalyse the potential of the best emerging scientists in Africa to address pressing sustainability challenges,” enthused AXA head Julia d’Astorg. “We are proud to expand our experience as a global science philanthropist with this focus on African research, thanks to our prestigious partners, the [NRF] and Future Earth.”

The ASPA is particularly aimed at supporting research focused on sustainability regarding the interconnection between climate change and health. The aim is to help meet the concomitant challenges by providing actionable information for mitigation, adaptation and governance strategies, ideally examining intersecting risks, and set within local contexts. The closing date for applications (to be made through the NRF website) is November 22, this year.

“We are excited to be part of this groundbreaking initiative that will not only advance sustainability research in Africa but also empower a new generation of researchers to tackle the continent’s most pressing challenges,” affirmed Future Earth Africa Hub Leadership Centre's Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitka. “By fostering collaboration and providing essential resources, ASPA will help build a resilient and innovative scientific community across Africa, capable of driving transformative change.”

The NRF is South Africa’s research funding, research facilities development and maintenance, and scientific human capital development agency. The AXA Research Fund is the global scientific philanthropy initiative of the French multinational Axa insurance group. The Future Earth Africa Hub is part of the worldwide Future Earth network of scientists, researchers and innovators, collaborating in research to achieve a more sustainable planet. The Future Earth Africa Hub is hosted by the NRF.