Black Academics Advancement Programme (BAAP) 2025 for Black South African Academics

Black Academics Advancement Programme (BAAP) 2025 for Black South African Academics. Apply below!

When is the Application Deadline:

15th May 2024

Tell Me About Black Academics Advancement Programme:

The National Research Foundation (NRF) and the FirstRand Foundation (FRF) have partnered to pursue the goal of increasing the proportion of suitably qualified Black African academic staff and academic staff with disabilities, at South African public universities, by establishing the Black Academics Advancement Programme (BAAP).

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The NRF issues a Call for Proposals for BAAP annually. This Call will be accompanied by a detailed NRF Application and Funding Guide explaining the information to be included in the NRF online application. Applicants will be invited to apply for funding in one (1) of the following two (2) tracks:
 PhD Track: for applicants registered for a PhD degree; and
 Post-PhD Track: for applicants intending to pursue Post-PhD research training.

In the context of higher education, a PhD qualification is a requirement for undertaking high quality research and supervising PhD students. The production and support of emerging researchers, i.e. those that are on the path to becoming established researchers, is also a prerequisite to promote globally competitive research and innovation. The NRF therefore promotes the research development of emerging researchers, employed at South African public universities, from the pre-PhD level to the attainment of an NRF rating.

Aim
This programme is a directed intervention aimed at promoting the development of Black academics specifically, Black South African citizens and academic staff with disabilities, by accelerating the training of PhD and Post-PhD candidates to enhance their research training and accelerate their progression to become established researchers

Objectives
In light of the above, the objectives of the Black Academics Advancement Programme are to:

• Support academics, particularly Black South African females and persons with disabilities, employed at public universities in South Africa to attain a PhD qualification and Post-PhD research training in all disciplines; and
• Promote the attainment of an NRF rating by Black South African early-career academics, especially Black and female researchers and persons with disabilities.

What Type of Scholarship is this?

Fellowship

Who can apply for Black Academics Advancement Programme?

The following general eligibility criteria apply to all applicants:

 Applicants must be Black, South African citizens or South African citizens with a disability;
 Applicants must hold a permanent, full-time academic appointment at one of the 26 public universities in South Africa, or a fixed-term appointment that extends for the full grant period plus one additional year.
 Applicants must not have received or hold a valid NRF A, B, C, or P rating at the time of commencement of the programme. Should an NRF Evaluation and Rating application and the BAAP application be submitted simultaneously and both are successful, then the BAAP grant will not be awarded.
 This grant may not be held concurrently with a Thuthuka Grant. In cases where the BAAP and Thuthuka applications are submitted simultaneously and both are successful, then the Thuthuka grant will not be awarded.
 New Generation Academics Programme (nGAP) scholars are excluded from applying to this Call.

PhD Track
The following eligibility criteria will apply, at the time of application, in respect of the PhD Track.

Applicants must:
 Be registered for a PhD degree in any discipline;
 Not be older than forty five (45) years of age;
 Have a proposed PhD research project, supported by the nominated supervisor.

This is a compulsory report which must be submitted electronically via the Reference Section of the application.

Post-PhD Track

The following eligibility criteria will apply, at the time of application, in respect of the PostPhD Track.

Applicants must:
 Not be older than forty five (45) years of age; and
 Have completed a PhD degree within five (5) years of the time of application

How are Applicants Selected for Black Academics Advancement Programme?

The selection of successful candidates for this grant will be guided by the principles outlined below.

• Equity and redress: In keeping with the equity and transformation objectives of the country, BAAP will support only South African citizens employed at public universities as full-time academics. The equity target for this programme is to support South African citizens being 90% African and 10% comprising of Indian, Coloured and persons with disabilities. Fifty five (55%) percent of all grants will be prioritised for female applicants.
• Institutional spread: Ideally, two (2) awards per annum will be made to each university that submits applications that meet the eligibility and merit review criteria. However, more than two awards per annum may be made to institutions subject to the availability of BAAP funding.
• Commitment to excellence: Even though the programme has a developmental focus, only quality proposals that are scientifically sound and obtain a favourable independent merit review will be considered for funding.
• Achievability: The research proposal and individual’s development plan must be realistic, i.e. achievable in terms of the research objectives, the resources required and the projected completion times.
• Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) Nomination: Only applications with a letter of nomination including a strong motivation from the DVC Research (or equivalent) at the university where the academic is employed, will be considered for the award.
• Candidate’s personal motivation: As this is a developmental programme, only applications with a well-motivated academic and research career plan, with intended outcomes will be considered for the award

Which Countries are Eligible?

South Africa

How Many Scholarships will be Given?

Not specified

What are the Benefit & Duration of Black Academics Advancement Programme?

Applications must be submitted by each South African public university in response to the call for applications. University management is required to implement processes to ensure that the NRF receives complete and well-motivated applications by the closing date. In this regard, universities are encouraged to form strategic partnerships with other universities for proposal development, co-supervision and/or support for emerging research development.
The number of applications that may be submitted by each university, in either track, is not limited. However, incomplete applications and applications that do not meet the eligibility criteria will be returned without review.

Applicants in the PhD track may apply for one (1) of the following:

 A three-year grant to undertake and complete a PhD degree;
 A one- or two-year grant for completion of the PhD degree, if the degree is in progress;
 A six (6) month grant for completion of a PhD degree, if the degree is near completion;
or
 A three-year grant to spend at least one (1) year completing the PhD degree and the remaining period undertaking Post-PhD research training.

Applicants in the Post-PhD track may apply for a one- or two-year grant to undertake a period of Post-PhD research training that must include a period of research training at an international university or research institution outside of South Africa or, in industry either in South Africa or abroad.

Each application must include the following two motivations for the application to be considered for funding.

How to Apply for Black Academics Advancement Programme:

SEE IN LINK BELOW!

It is important to go through all application requirements before applying.

Goodluck!

Visit Award Webpage for Details