Opportunity status:
Open
Funders:
Funding type:
Grant
Total fund:
£3,000,000
Publication date:
1 September 2025
Opening date:
1 September 2025 9:00am UK time
Closing date:
23 October 2025 4:00pm UK time
Apply for funding for collaborative physics projects addressing the challenges of climate change, energy, and capacity building, across African economies. You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) funding and have a project co-lead based at an eligible research organisation in Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, or Uganda.
Projects must start on 1 April 2026. The total fund amount is £3 million. STFC will fund five to 10 projects for up to 24 months and will fund 80% FEC for UK applicants and 100% FEC for international applicants.
Who can apply
To lead a project, you must be based at an eligible organisation. .
All organisations that request funding within the application must be considered eligible by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) standards and must be independent of government control (financial or otherwise). Requesting funding for ineligible organisations may cause your application to be rejected.
If you have any queries regarding eligibility as an individual, as an organisation or as a partner for this funding opportunity, please contact us at to discuss. We will be happy to advise you.
Who is eligible to apply
This funding opportunity is open to research groups working on collaborative projects between the UK and Africa. We encourage:
collaborative research with other UK and African research organisations from eligible countries
applications from diverse groups of researchers
applications from female researchers
applications from individuals at any career stage, subject to STFC eligibility criteria
Read more about this in the .
For this programme, we particularly encourage applications from female researchers and those in the early stages of their academic career.
Who is not eligible to apply
This funding opportunity is for collaborative projects. We will not consider:
projects from a single research organisation with no international partner
projects that request funding for researchers employed in countries outside of the six specified African countries (Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda) and the UK
projects with a project lead from a non-UK research organisation
projects which were previously submitted for funding, and which were unsuccessful
International researchers
Project leads from non-UK organisations are not eligible to apply for funding for this opportunity. International researchers can apply as ‘project co-lead (international)’. You should include all other international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) as project partners.
Project co-leads based in eligible research organisations in eligible African countries must be included in research grant applications. There must be a project co-lead based in each eligible African institution that receives funding via this grant, to ensure adequate oversight.
At least one project co-lead based in an eligible African research organisation must be included in the application. Read the for details of eligible organisations and costs.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.
We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:
career breaks
support for people with caring responsibilities
flexible working
alternative working patterns
for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.
What we're looking for
Aim
STFC has launched the Africa-UK Physics Partnership (AUPP) programme to build and sustain a skilled and talented cohort of early career African physicists. As an important component of this £10.7 million programme, STFC is launching a funding opportunity to bring together physics researchers from the UK and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to develop collaborative research projects, addressing challenges facing African countries across three themes:
climate
energy
capacity building in physics across African economies and societies
Researchers will work in partnership to address physics challenges with specific relevance to SSA, developing unique perspectives that enable the SSA physics community to participate in world-class research projects. The funding opportunity will help develop long-term partnerships with the UK and support African researchers to apply their scientific skills to address a wide range of challenges and priorities.
Scope
This collaborative opportunity welcomes physics-led applications that address one or more of the three key themes of this funding opportunity. Projects will be developed from equitable partnerships between a lead UK researcher based in a UK research organisation, and at least one project co-lead based in a research organisation in Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, or Uganda. Please see the link in “Related content” for guidance on creating equitable partnerships. STFC welcomes applications with multiple African partners.
Partnerships funded under this programme must be collaborative endeavours with a focus on climate, energy, or physics challenges with specific relevance to sub-Saharan Africa. Research teams will build relevant research capability, utilise existing initiatives, networks and collaborations, and promote equitable partnerships and gender inclusivity. Applicants are encouraged to connect with physics research communities to promote mutually beneficial UK-Africa collaborations and enable knowledge-sharing and access to key infrastructure and facilities.
STFC will fund five to 10 projects lasting up to 24 months, starting on 1 April 2026. STFC will fund 80% of the full economic cost (FEC) for UK-based teams, and 100% of the FEC for international applicants. STFC expects that each application will demonstrate the value for money offered by the project, and that the funds requested will be proportionate to the length of the project.
Through this funding opportunity, STFC aims to:
fund collaborative projects involving the UK and one or more institutions in eligible African countries
support the themes of climate, energy, or capacity building in physics across African economies and societies
enhance existing and develop new sustainable, equitable partnerships between the UK and eligible SSA research partners
develop early career researchers within physics
promote upskilling of researchers to benefit them and their home university
promote gender inclusivity, increasing the representation of women in physics and ensuring female physicists’ participation in research projects in line with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s wider equality, diversity and inclusion policies
increase mobility of researchers between the UK and African partner countries
strengthen physics research capacity in the eligible SSA countries through research relationships
Out of scope
Proposals out of scope of this funding opportunity are:
projects with attached studentships
fellowships
large scale infrastructure projects
projects that include costs for equipment over £25,000
projects that are not official development assistant (ODA) compliant
projects previously submitted to UKRI/STFC which were rejected
For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the Additional information section.
Partnerships
Applications to this opportunity must be multi-institutional, involving at least one eligible research organisation in one of the six eligible African countries, and one institution in the UK, although multiple African partners are permitted. In order to facilitate the creation of new partnerships, we have set up a web portal for any individual wishing to be involved.
If you wish to engage in the application process, but do not currently have any contacts for potential collaborators, please register within the portal. You will then be able to outline your areas of expertise and the core research theme to which you are able to contribute. This will enable other interested parties to contact you through the portal.
Duration
The duration of this award is up to 24 months.
Projects must start on 1 April 2026.
Funding available
STFC will fund five to 10 projects up to a total fund amount of £3 million.
STFC will fund 80% of the FEC for UK applicants, and 100% of the FEC for international applicants.
Eligible UK costs
Costs associated with the UK component should be costed on the basis of FEC. If the grant is awarded, we will provide funding on the basis of 80% FEC.
Eligible international costs
Costs associated with project co-leads (international) (PcL (I)s) employed by a university, other recognised higher education institution or other research institution based in the eligible institutions in the six African countries, should be included in the submission as Exceptions.
The following costs may be requested:
costs for PcL (I)s and any locally employed staff, that is a percentage contribution of actual salary representing the proportion of each person’s time to be spent working on the project. These costs must be entered as Exceptions under the Staff costs at 100% FEC
travel and subsistence for PcL (I)s must be entered as Exceptions under Travel and Subsistence at 100% FEC
costs charged by the overseas organisation and associated with the project, for example consumables and field work, should be entered as Exceptions under the Other costs at 100% FEC
a contribution towards indirect and estates costs at overseas organisation should be calculated as 20% of the overseas research organisation’s directly incurred costs (the total of the resources required for the three bullets above). This should be entered as an exception under the Other costs at 100% FEC
As this funding opportunity includes partner countries on the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list, STFC has removed the 30% cap on international costs as per the .
Ineligible costs
The following will not be funded under this funding opportunity in either the UK or SSA institutions:
any types of studentships
large items of equipment or other capital expenditure
A large item is defined here as anything costing £25,000 or more. An item of equipment should be defined as a complete unit, consisting of all interconnected parts that are designed to operate together.
What we will fund
We will fund:
collaborative projects strengthening relationships between UK and SSA researchers in physics
projects that support gender inclusivity
projects that strengthen existing in-country partnerships
projects that support networking, capacity building, training and upskilling in physics
projects that strengthen existing in-country partnerships and support research-related knowledge exchange and impact activities
projects with a focus on international mobility between the UK and the African partner countries
projects that address challenges specific to the African context
What we will not fund
We will not fund:
UK-only projects, projects must have in-country partnerships
projects that do not have a primary focus on physics
development of large infrastructure
projects that are not ODA-compliant
large items of equipment or other capital expenditure
Supporting skills and talent
We encourage you to follow the principles of the and the .
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.
, including where applicants can find additional support.
How to apply
We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.
Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.
To apply
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
Confirm you are the project lead.
Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email
Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you.
Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.
When including images, you must:
provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)
insert each new image on a new line
use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application may be rejected if you include:
sentences or paragraphs of text
tables
excessive quantities of images
A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
References
References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.
Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:
references are easily identifiable by the assessors
references are formatted as appropriate to your research
persistent identifiers are used where possible
General use of hyperlinks
Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.
For more information see our policy on the .
Deadline
STFC must receive your application by 23 October 2025 at 4:00pm UK time.
You will not be able to apply after this time.
Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.
Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.
Personal data
Processing personal data
STFC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.
We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our .
Sensitive information
If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email
Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].
Typical examples of confidential information include:
individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
declaration of interest
additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
the application is an invited resubmission
For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read .
Institutional Matched Funding
There is no requirement for matched funding from the institution(s) hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application, beyond any 20% FEC contribution. UKRI advises reviewers and panel members not to consider the level of matched host institution funding as a factor on which to base funding recommendations. Any project partners are expected to contribute to the project, either with cash or in-kind contributions.
Publication of outcomes
STFC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at .
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the.
Summary
Word limit: 550
In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.
We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:
opinion-formers
policymakers
the public
the wider research community
Guidance for writing a summary
Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:
context
the challenge the project addresses
aims and objectives
potential applications and benefits
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
project lead (PL)
project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
project co-lead (international) (PcL (I))
specialist
grant manager
professional enabling staff
research and innovation associate
technician
visiting researcher
researcher co-lead (RcL)
Only list one individual as project lead.
UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application.
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