The AREF Excell Malaria Researcher & Leadership Development Programme is a prestigious initiative by the Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF) aimed at building future malaria research leaders in Africa. It strategically combines leadership development, research, institutional capacity-building, and professional networking to address malaria within a continental, collaborative context.
Location (Country/City)
- The programme is Africa-wide:
- Eligible candidates must be employed within an African institution.
- The program itself includes regional workshops, structured conferences, and capacity-building events held across partnered African institutions and virtually.
- Institutional leads and the fellows engage closely with local and continental ecosystems.
Funding
- Up to US $50,000 per project/institution over two years to support malaria research capacity; this is not an individual stipend but funds to strengthen institutional infrastructure.
- The programme offers researchers:
- Mentorship and leadership coaching
- Three experiential workshops
- Opening and closing convenings
- Access to online learning, webinars, and monitoring support.
(Collectively, these elements aim to support both researchers and institutions to deliver sustainable malaria research leadership.)
Eligibility Criteria
- Must be an African national employed by an African research institution.
- Researchers with 2–8 years of post-PhD research experience, or clinicians without a PhD who hold an MD plus a research master’s and have 4–8 years of research experience.
- Must not have previously participated in an AREF Excell programme.
- Research must focus on malaria, ideally aligning with national research strategies.
- Diverse research approaches accepted: laboratory, clinical, behavioral, social sciences, public health, health systems, environmental, mathematical sciences.
Application Date & Deadline
- Institutional nomination is required; applications must be prepared and submitted by institutions on behalf of researchers.
- Deadline: 15 October 2025. Institutions coordinate internal nomination processes, often taking 6–8 weeks.
- Note: One application allowed per institution.
Duration
- The programme spans two years (January 2026 – January 2028).
- Components include:
- Opening and closing conferences
- Three hands-on workshops
- Ongoing mentorship
- Webinars and network events
- Institutional project funding and evaluation.
Application Process
- Step 1: The Institutional Lead (IL); typically a mid- to senior-level malaria researcher at the home institution coordinates an internal competition to select up to five early-career researchers for nomination.
- Step 2: IL prepares and submits an institutional application through AREF’s portal: programmes.aref-africa.org.uk
- Step 3: Selected nominees proceed with the two-year programme upon institutional approval.
The entire internal nomination and application cycle takes about 6–8 weeks, so early planning is highly advised.
Application Website
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