Cambridge Africa Climate Collaborative Research Fund: Next Call Expected October 2026
Historical reference for the completed 2025 climate-resilience research call and the renamed Cambridge Africa Climate Collaborative Research Fund, whose next call will open in October 2026.
Cambridge Africa Climate Collaborative Research Fund: Next Call Expected October 2026
This page is a historical reference for the completed 2025 call formerly named the Mastercard Foundation and University of Cambridge Climate Resilience and Sustainability Research Fund. Cambridge-Africa’s official summer 2026 newsletter says that the next call is now known as the Cambridge Africa Climate Collaborative Research Fund and will open in October. It does not yet publish the next deadline, award limits, or application guidance. Do not treat this page as an open application window: the 2025 deadline was 15 January 2026, and the historicalReference flag records that the archived date has passed.
The official programme page remains the best place to check when the new call opens: https://www.cambridge-africa.cam.ac.uk/initiatives/mastercard-foundation-and-university-of-cambridge-climate-resilience-and-sustainability-research-fund/
At a glance
| Item | Verified information |
|---|---|
| Programme | Mastercard Foundation and University of Cambridge Climate Resilience and Sustainability Research Fund, now referred to by Cambridge-Africa as the Cambridge Africa Climate Collaborative Research Fund |
| Page status | Historical reference; the 2025 call is closed |
| Archived deadline | 15 January 2026 |
| Next call | Cambridge-Africa says it will open in October; the next deadline has not been published |
| Completed-call awards | Research Catalyst Grant up to £20,000; Workshop Grant up to £50,000 |
| Eligible partnership | One Cambridge researcher working jointly with one researcher at an African university or research institution |
| Applicant level | Both principal investigators normally at post-doctoral level or above, with equivalent experience considered |
| Research focus | Broadly interpreted climate resilience and sustainability work across disciplines |
| Official administrator | Cambridge-Africa, University of Cambridge |
What the fund was designed to support
The fund was created to build and strengthen collaborations between researchers in Cambridge and Africa. Its subject scope is deliberately broad. A proposal can come from the sciences, social sciences, humanities, or arts when it makes a clear case for how the work addresses climate resilience or sustainability. Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary proposals are welcomed, as are research-related training activities.
The 2025 guidance described the fund as part of the Africa Climate Collaborative, a partnership involving the Mastercard Foundation, the University of Ghana, Makerere University, the University of Cape Town, and the University of Cambridge. The wider aim is to support research, innovation, and skills development that help young Africans contribute to climate-resilient and sustainable futures. The official programme page says the fund is backed by a £7.7 million investment and is intended to run from 2025 to 2030, with annual award cycles through 2029. Those programme-level details do not turn the next call into an open application; applicants still need the forthcoming call notice and its own terms.
The 2025 guidance also placed special emphasis on young people in Africa. Research proposals involving people under 36, or producing clear benefits for young people, were to be prioritised. Workshop proposals were expected to develop the skills of young people in Africa. A strong future proposal should therefore explain not only the academic question but also who will gain skills, how partners will share responsibility, and what will remain in the African partner institution after the award.
Award types in the completed 2025 call
The closed call offered two types of support. A Research Catalyst Grant provided up to £20,000 for new or strengthened collaborative research. This was seed funding: suitable uses could include early research activity, fieldwork, reagents, small equipment, pilot data, or a research training component. The guidance said that equipment bought with the fund had to be for use in Africa and remain with the collaborating African partner institution after the project ended. The grant was intended to add value beyond what either group could do alone and to create a foundation for longer-term collaboration.
A Workshop Grant provided up to £50,000 for a workshop delivered in Africa by Cambridge and African university or research-institute partners. The workshop was expected to develop skills and knowledge relevant to climate resilience and sustainability, with particular attention to early-career researchers. The guidance highlighted access to resources, mentorship, and networking as part of the participant benefit. A credible workshop plan therefore needs more than a venue and a list of speakers: it should identify participants, learning outcomes, practical materials, follow-up, and how the African partner will shape delivery.
The 2025 call did not cover either principal investigator’s salary, overheads, or grant-administration costs. Most awards were expected to last 12 months or less, although a longer period could be considered with justification. Because the next call’s financial rules have not been published, do not copy these limits into a new application without checking the updated guidance.
Who could apply in 2025
Applications were built around a genuine pair of principal investigators. The Cambridge-based PI had to work at the University of Cambridge. The other PI had to be based at a university or research institution of comparable standing on the African continent. Both applicants normally needed to be at post-doctoral level or above, although the guidance allowed equivalent experience to be considered and advised applicants to contact the fund team if one partner did not hold a PhD.
The partnership had to be substantive and co-created. The guidance specifically warned against using the funding to provide a service carried out at one institution on behalf of the other. Both applicants were expected to have support from a head of department or equivalent, a formal link to a research group, department, or faculty, and employment continuing beyond the award end date. Postgraduate students were not the intended principal applicants, although limited student support, such as an internship within a research project, was encouraged.
The strongest fit is a project where the partners bring different but necessary knowledge and capabilities. Examples might include a Cambridge climate modeller working with an African urban-planning researcher on heat-risk data and community planning; a Cambridge agricultural scientist and African crop researchers testing drought-resilient methods; or a social-science team co-designing a training workshop with early-career researchers and public-sector users. These examples are illustrative, not new eligibility rules. The next call may refine the requirements.
How the 2025 application worked
The Cambridge-based PI acted as the lead applicant for administrative purposes. They registered on the Cambridge-Africa online system, completed a savable form, and invited the Africa-based PI to view and edit the submission. The form was intended to let both applicants develop the proposal together rather than treating the African partner as an afterthought. The old registration link is not the right page to use for a new submission now that the round has closed.
The final 2025 submission required:
- a case for support explaining the collaboration and how it would operate;
- an itemised budget using the supplied template;
- a lay summary;
- a letter of support from the Cambridge PI’s department or faculty, or an acceptable institutional email;
- a letter of support from the Africa-based PI’s department or institution, or an acceptable institutional email;
- a CV of no more than two pages for each PI; and
- details of two suggested referees without conflicts of interest, such as being from the applicants’ own department.
The Cambridge department or faculty also needed to be ready to administer the award. The guidance said that a grant-administration contact had to be named and that prior discussion with that person had to take place before submission. Successful applicants would later need signed award and collaboration documents before funds could be transferred. These administrative details should be checked against the new guidance when the October call opens.
How to prepare for the next call
There is no verified 2026 deadline yet, so preparation should focus on material that is unlikely to become irrelevant while waiting for the new notice. First, identify the Cambridge and African PIs and agree on a problem that matters to the African partner’s institution and communities. Write down the contribution each partner makes, the decisions they will share, and the outputs that will be useful locally.
Second, decide whether the eventual proposal is more likely to fit a research catalyst activity or a workshop. For a catalyst project, define a small body of work that can produce useful evidence within a limited period and budget. For a workshop, specify the target early-career audience, selection process, curriculum, facilitators, practical exercises, and follow-up. In either case, make the climate-resilience or sustainability connection explicit rather than assuming reviewers will infer it from the topic.
Third, start a realistic budget and check institutional restrictions early. The completed call excluded PI salaries, overheads, and grant administration. Equipment, travel, participant support, data collection, and training costs need a direct connection to the work plan. If equipment is requested, explain its location, ownership, maintenance, and benefit to the African partner after the project.
Finally, prepare a short lay summary and ask both institutions to review the case for support. Check ethics, permissions, sensitive data, material transfer, transport of scientific materials, and any national or institutional requirements before promising a start date. The 2025 guidance recommended choosing a project start date no earlier than 1 June 2026 to allow activation time; that was a completed-call instruction, not a date for the upcoming round.
What to verify when the October call opens
Return to the official Cambridge-Africa programme page when the new notice appears. Confirm the formal programme name, closing date, award categories, maximum amounts, eligible Cambridge-affiliated institutions, applicant experience requirements, permitted costs, required attachments, and registration link. Also check whether the new call adds the further award category mentioned in Cambridge-Africa’s 2026 summer newsletter.
Until those details are published, the responsible reading is simple: the 2025 opportunity is closed, its real deadline is retained above for archive accuracy, and a renamed successor call is planned for October without a published deadline. This page should not imply that applications can be submitted today.
Contact
For programme questions, the official Cambridge-Africa page directs enquiries to [email protected]. Use the programme page above to confirm whether that address remains the correct contact for the renamed fund and to obtain the new application guidance once it is released.