Science Granting Council Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Science Granting Council Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa (SGCI) aims to strengthen the capacities of science granting councils in sub-Saharan Africa in order to support research and evidence-based policies that will contribute to the continent’s economic and social development.

The initiative is funded by the Department for International Development UK; the National Research Foundation (NRF) South Africa; and the International Research Development Centre (IDRC). It is structured around four themes:

1. Strengthening the research management capacity of Africa’s Science Granting Councils
2. Strengthening Africa’s Science Granting Councils as champions of indicators in public policy making
3. Strengthening partnerships among Africa’s Science Granting Councils and the private sector
4. Building partnerships and networks among Science Granting Councils and other science system actors in Sub-Saharan Africa through annual regional meetings and forums 

SARIMA and the ACU are the delivery partners for the first theme, which seeks to strengthen the research management capacity of Africa’s Science Granting Councils in a number of key areas, such as: grant-making systems and procedures; principles of scientific merit review; STI policy analysis and research priority setting; design and management of science and technology cooperation agreements; effective communication of research results; mapping of science and innovation funding; alignment of publicly funded research with the needs of the private sector; and implementation of new modes of scientific practices, such as open science. 

Theme 1, which commenced in June 2016 runs for 30 months, until 2019.

Find more information on the SGCI website.

Read more about how the ACU's Research Management Programme is playing a key role - Supporting African research management through benchmarking