22nd January 2026 option 1: fellowship period from March to August 2026
15th January 2026 option 2: fellowship period from September 2026 to February 2027
The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), with support from the Mastercard Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, is launching this Early-Career Research Fellowship program. The initiative will fund up to forty-two (42) early-career researchers to conduct globally competitive research at the host and affiliated institutions of ARUA’s thirteen (13) https://arua.org/centres-of-excellence/ and the twenty-two (22) Africa-Europe Clusters of Excellence (CoREs).
Each fellowship will have a duration of six months, to be undertaken between March 2026 and February 2027. There will be only two commencement dates for the awards: March 2026 and September 2026. Candidates may select their preferred fellowship period as option 1, which runs from March to August 2026. The deadline for application for option 1 is 22nd January 2026.
The fellowship period for option 2 is September 2026 to February 2027. The deadline for application for option 2 is 15th July 2026.
At least 70% of the fellowships are reserved for female candidates, and applicants must be no older than 35 years at the time of application.
