Scholarship Overview
Overview
The African Climate Collaborative PhD Fellowships in Climate and Development provide comprehensive funding for 12 African scholars to undertake four-year doctoral training at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The programme is designed to build a new generation of researchers addressing Africa’s most pressing climate and development challenges through interdisciplinary, policy-relevant research.
The fellowship structure comprises one year of structured pre-doctoral coursework followed by three years of independent thesis research under supervision, supplemented by ongoing doctoral skills training. Fellows join a cohort of researchers working across diverse disciplines—from hydrology and civil engineering to political science and education—united by a focus on climate action in African contexts.
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Funding and Benefits
The 2027 fellowship provides R390,000 annually, structured as follows:
- Stipend and fees: R315,000
- Additional allowances: Up to R75,000 for relocation, medical insurance, research expenses, and other costs
This funding level supports comfortable living in Cape Town and comprehensive research activities without requiring additional employment. The fellowship duration covers the full four-year programme period.
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Available Research Topics
Applicants must select exactly one of 19 research topics, each linked to a named supervisor and specific disciplinary requirements. Topics span critical climate-development intersections:
Social Sciences and Governance
- The politics of care in African urban flooding-health contexts (Environmental and Geographical Sciences)
- Whose energy transition? Multi-level governance of electricity commons (Environmental and Geographical Sciences)
- Governing water infrastructure investment under climate change in African cities (Construction Economics and Management)
- Knowledge and governance shaping urban climate adaptation (Environmental and Geographical Sciences)
- Innovation systems for electric cooking transitions in Africa (Environmental and Geographical Sciences)
- Climate-compatible education innovation in Africa (Academic Development Programme)
- Collective action for scaling business climate adaptation (Graduate School of Business)
- Changing architecture of Chinese power finance in Africa (Graduate School of Business)
Natural and Engineering Sciences
- Managing locust outbreaks under climate change (Statistical Sciences)
- Sustainable concrete technology for African urbanisation (Civil Engineering)
- Energy system impacts of ENSO swings in Southern Africa (Chemical Engineering)
- Detecting biodiversity change in the Cape Floristic Region (Biological Sciences)
- Participatory modelling for climate-resilient fisheries (Biological Sciences)
- Scale-explicit framework for evaluating climate adaptation in fisheries (Biological Sciences)
- Multi-modal remote sensing for smallholder climate resilience (Environmental and Geographical Sciences)
- Hydrological reorganisation under climate and development pressures (Environmental and Geographical Sciences)
- Building climate-resilient estuaries through Nature-Based Solutions (Environmental and Geographical Sciences)
- Climate-resilient blue bioeconomies in South Africa (Environmental and Geographical Sciences)
- Biodiversity spatial planning effectiveness (Statistical Sciences)
Eligibility Requirements
Candidates must meet all criteria below:
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- Citizenship: Citizen of an African country only. African applicants residing outside Africa are welcome to apply.
- Age: Under 35 years as of 1 February 2027
- Academic qualification: Completed Master’s degree in a discipline relevant to the specific research topic
- UCT admission: Must apply and be accepted for PhD admission at UCT (assistance provided to successful fellowship applicants)
- Application limit: One topic only; multiple applications result in disqualification
The programme particularly encourages applications from women and from applicants with lived experience of displacement or disability.
Application Process
Complete applications must be submitted through the official online portal by the deadline. Required documents include:
- Curriculum Vitae: Maximum 5 pages, including names and contact details of 3 referees (one must have supervised your Master’s dissertation)
- Writing sample: Previous academic or research writing, ideally from your Master’s dissertation
- Academic transcripts: For Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees (certified copies required prior to fellowship confirmation)
- Letter of motivation: Explaining interest in the specific topic and programme, and how your training positions you for this research
- Identification: Copy of national ID or passport
Selection Considerations
Competitive applicants typically demonstrate:
- Strong alignment between their Master’s discipline and the topic’s specified requirements
- Relevant research experience (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods as appropriate)
- Evidence of engagement with climate, development, or African context issues
- For certain topics: specific language skills (e.g., isiXhosa for the urban flooding-health topic), programming proficiency (R, Python, MATLAB), or GIS/remote sensing capabilities
Each topic lists detailed disciplinary backgrounds and preferred skills. Review these carefully before selecting your application topic.
Important Notes for Zimbabwe and SADC Applicants
Given currency and banking constraints affecting Zimbabwean applicants, note that UCT’s financial systems and the fellowship’s South African Rand denomination may require planning for international transfers. The relocation allowance can assist with initial settlement costs. South African-based applicants and those from SADC countries may find the transition to Cape Town relatively straightforward given regional academic networks and SADC mobility frameworks.
Official scholarship page: https://acdi.uct.ac.za/africaclimatecollaborative/phd-fellowships-climate-and-development
