The Royal Society calls application for Future Leaders – African Independent Research (FLAIR) Fellowships. FLAIR Fellowship is a fully funded opportunity for talented African early career researchers who have the potential to become leaders in their field. These fellowships provide the opportunity to build an independent research career in a sub-Saharan African institution and to undertake cutting-edge scientific research that will address global challenges facing developing countries.

Research must be within the Royal Society’s remit of natural sciences, which includes but is not limited to biological research, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, and physics. For a full list, please see the breakdown of subject groups and areas supported by the Royal Society.

Objectives 

The objectives of this fully funded FLAIR Fellowship Program are to

• Support talented early career researchers to establish an independent research career in African institutions.
• Enable high-quality research that addresses the global development challenges faced by the African continent.
• Provide world-class support, training, mentoring and networking opportunities to benefit early careers, African researchers.

Funding 

This scheme provides an award of up to £150,000 per year for two years in the first instance. Moreover, the fund will cover

• Research Fellow’s salary, up to £45,000 per year.
• Research expenses including Research assistance, Equipment costs, Travel expenses, and Research consumables.
• Institutional overhead, up to £15,000 per year.

The fellowship also provides a program of support and development, including:

• Mentoring
• Training courses
• Opportunities for international collaboration
• Networking opportunities regionally and internationally

Eligibilities 

In order to be eligible, candidates must

• Be a national of a sub-Saharan African country.
• Hold a Ph.D. by the time of application.
• Be an early career researcher with a minimum of two years of research experience since completing your Ph.D. and no more than eight years of post-doctoral research experience.
• Have to wish to hold the fellowship in a research institution in an Official Development Assistance (ODA) eligible sub-Saharan African country.
• Have a clearly defined scientific research proposal focusing on one or more of the Global Challenge areas outlined in the scheme notes.