About

The South African National Health Research Enterprise (NHRE), administered by the South African Medical Research Council, seeks to strengthen the national health research ecosystem by funding projects that address critical health system gaps and contribute to improved health outcomes. This call prioritizes health systems research with a clear pathway to policy uptake, system strengthening, equitable access to quality healthcare, scalability, and measurable impact within the South African public health system.

Research must focus on one or more priority areas, including HIV, TB, other infectious diseases, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, cancer, mental health, and women’s, maternal, neonatal, and child health. Projects should generate evidence relevant to service delivery, policy, financing, governance, workforce, access, equity, or system-level adoption.

Funding of up to R2 million per annum, with a maximum of R6 million over three years, will be awarded to successful proposals. Budgets must be realistic and well-justified to maximize the number of funded projects.

Eligibility

Applications are open to researchers based at South African public universities, public research entities, science councils, national facilities, and other recognized research institutions whose primary purpose is research and postgraduate training. Principal Investigators must be South African citizens or permanent residents employed by eligible institutions.

Non-governmental and non-profit entities whose primary purpose is not research and training, private companies, civil society groups, and non-South African institutions are not eligible to apply as lead applicants but may participate as collaborators. Proposals must demonstrate alignment with priority research areas, scientific merit, feasibility, ethical and regulatory readiness, institutional support, and a clear pathway to scientific advancement, public health impact, policy uptake, product development, or implementation.

Post Date: August 16, 2026