ResearchAnnouncement

Research Announcement: UCT research news and funding opportunities

19 September 2024
 

Dear colleagues

The purpose of this announcement is to keep members of the UCT research community informed about news and funding opportunities in the research space. All new funding opportunities can also be found on the current funding opportunities page of the Research Support Hub. For research-related enquiries, visit the Research Support Services page.

In this newsletter:

Noticeboard

Funding opportunities and funder announcements

Research capacity building

Noticeboard

On the Research Announcement noticeboard, we share news and items of interest from the UCT Research Office.


Invitation: Support UCT's Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition

Established by the University of Queensland, 3MT is an annual competition for PhD students held in more than 200 universities worldwide. The winners in the PhD Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and Social Sciences categories will go on to compete in the national competition hosted by the University of the Free State. The preceding UCT leg takes place tomorrow (see details below) and will also include the master’s STEM and Social Sciences categories, offering our master’s students the opportunity to hone their presentation skills. View programme here.

The competition challenges participants to present their research in an accessible and engaging way in just three minutes. It’s important that their work is understood by an intelligent audience with no background in their specific research area. This exercise develops presentation, research and academic communication skills and supports the development of research students' capacity to explain their work effectively.

Come support our students on: Friday the 20 September, 09:00 – 13:30
Join: Online or in-person at Hlanganani Junction, Level 5, Chancellor Oppenheimer Library, Upper Campus, UCT.

Learn more about the competition here.
Reminder: Funding proposals submitted by the Research Contracts and Innovation (RC&I) office: Important information 

Some funders require grant proposals to be submitted by an authorised institutional approver, which for UCT is usually RC&I. Examples of such funders include the Wellcome Trust, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom Research & Innovation (UKRI).

For RC&I to submit your funding application, they must receive it at least five working days prior to the funder deadline due date. In instances where this condition isn’t met, they cannot be held responsible for any consequences if they are unable to meet the funder's deadline. Follow the key points to ensure timely processing here.

Direct queries to the International Grants Hub [email protected].   

Funding opportunities and funder announcements

Visit the current funding opportunities page on the Research Support Hub to view all open funding opportunities.


Call for applications: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions-Staff Exchanges 2024/5
Funder deadline: 5 February 2025
UCT Intention to submit deadline: 4 December 2024


The Actions-Staff Exchanges fund short-term international and inter-sectoral exchanges of staff involved in research and innovation activities of participating organisations.
The aim is to develop sustainable collaborative projects between different organisations from the academic and non-academic sectors, in particular mall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), based in Europe and beyond. Exchanged staff benefit from new knowledge, skills and career development perspectives, while participating organisations increase their research and innovation capacities. Staff Exchanges are open to international consortia of universities, research institutions, businesses, SMEs and other non-academic organisations.
The call for applications is available here
Staff eligibility:
• Includes researchers (doctoral candidates to postdoctoral researchers) and administrative, managerial, or technical staff.
• Staff must be engaged in research and innovation activities for at least one month before secondment.

Direct queries to the International Grants Hub [email protected] 
Call for applications: African Laser Centre (ALC) Research Collaboration proposals 2025/26
Submission deadline: 25 October 2024

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Photonics Centre invites proposals for the ALC Research Collaboration support program for 2025/26. This initiative supports research collaborations between South African and African researchers in laser and laser applications related research fields.

• Call for proposals and applications and manual
• ALC grant application form

Direct queries to Prince Khoza [email protected]
Call for applications: Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) Photonics Centre’s Rental Pool Programme 2025/26
Submission deadline: 25 October 2024

The CSIR Photonics Centre invites proposals for this program which supports research projects in laser and laser-based application research in all research fields in the natural sciences, engineering and health sciences.

• Call for grant applications and manual
• CSIR Rental Pool Program 2025 Application form

Direct queries to Prince Khoza [email protected]
Reminder: Call for applications: The British Academy: Official Development Assistance (ODA) Challenge-Oriented Research Grants 2025 (FORECAST)
Duration of funding: 18 Months
Funder deadline: 10 April 2025 (Please note that this is a forecast. The call is currently closed)


The British Academy invites applications for its ODA Challenge-Oriented Research Grants. This call aims to provide opportunities for researchers based in South Africa and specific eligible countries to develop and/or deepen international research collaborations focused on ODA-eligible global challenges. The academy seeks to support policy-relevant research across a range of themes, including:
• Antimicrobial Resistance
• Culture, Heritage and Climate Action
• Environmental Resilience and Climate Action
• Pandemic Preparedness
• Power and Voice in Climate Action
• Societal Challenges and Approaches to Responsible Technologies
• Social Determinants of Health
• Women and Climate Action
• Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Led by or Actively Involving Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

Eligibility Criteria for lead applicant, they must:
• Be a researcher within the social sciences or the humanities
• Hold a PhD (or have equivalent research experience)
• At least one co-applicant must be based in the UK

Funding amount: Up to £200,000 per project

More information can be viewed here.

Contact Information: [email protected]
Reminder: Call for applications: The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Global Health Research (GHR) programme

The United Kingdom-based NIHR is looking for applications for the GHR researcher-led programmes. These programmes fund research to improve health outcomes for the most vulnerable people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Research must address evidence needs that are locally identified and prioritised and must promote health equity, aligning with the aims of Sustainable Development Goal 3. Applications can span broad, ambitious programmes of research to projects with a more narrow scope.

The NIHR will host two webinars to support GHR applications for researcher-led bands 1 to 3 on 29 August 2024. The sessions will include a series of presentations followed by a live Q&A.

More information can be viewed here

Direct queries to:
Health Sciences applicants: [email protected]
All other faculties: [email protected]
Research capacity building

Below are events, workshops and webinars that offer capacity-building opportunities for the UCT research community.

Digital Scholar Series sessions: Publishing data and working collaboratively

Join us for the last two sessions of the Digital Scholar Series for 2024.

On the 25th of September at 13:00 you’ll be introduced to the UCT Open Data repository: ZivaHub. In today's academic landscape you get credit for publishing the data you produce and share as well as leading to new opportunities for study. To do this, your data must be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR). This session will look at how you can make your data FAIR by sharing and publishing it on ZivaHub. Register here.

On 2nd October, also at 13:00, join a collaborative researching platforms session provided by UCT. This is to assist and enhance collaboration between researchers. We will look at SharePoint (Microsoft), the Open Science Framework (OSF) and ZivaHub as collaboration tools to see which might suit your project best. Register here
Invitation: Peer reviewer training
Session date: 26 September 2024 | 10:30-14:00

Taylor & Francis Group, in association with the South African National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC) invite you to a free peer reviewer training webinar to mark Peer Review Week 2024.
This detailed online training covers all aspects of how to be an effective peer reviewer for researchers in all areas, including:
• Overview of different types of peer review
• The responsibilities of a peer reviewer
• How to critically assess an article and write an effective report
• How to address ethical concerns about an article you have been asked to review

Sign up here.
The Research Announcement is produced by the Research Office, University of Cape Town.

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