Partnerships that support Africa’s leading researchers

Pivotal research is being carried out in Africa, and UCT is committed to supporting that work.

UCT drives partnerships that showcase Africa’s research talent and the ability of African researchers to impact local and global challenges.

By connecting players from the global north with the global south, UCT enables African researchers to join international partners and share expertise.

Capacity building is also vital. UCT works with young African researchers to develop their skills so they can take their rightful place in the global knowledge space.

Some of our African partnerships

ARUA Centres of Excellence

The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) is a partnership network of universities across Africa that supports 13 centres of excellence across the continent. UCT hosts two of these centres: The Centre of Excellence in Climate and Development, and the African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research.

Afrobarometer

Afrobarometer is an African-led research network that carries out public surveys on democracy, governance and well-being in Africa. The data, contributed by over 200 000 Africans from 37 African countries, is used to inform the Index of African Governance compiled by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. Learn more here.

Heart of Africa

UCT is one of seven African partners involved in the Heart of Africa Study, which examines the emergence of heart disease in African communities. The initiative stems from the Heart of Soweto project, which investigated the prevalence, presentation and management of cardiac disease in urban African populations. Learn more here.

Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa)

Despite the high disease burden and genetic diversity on the continent, genomic research is limited in Africa. H3Africa aims to address this by increasing the number of African scientists in genomics, establishing collaborative African research networks and growing infrastructure to support genomic research across the continent. Learn more here.

Square Kilometre Array (SKA)

The SKA project is an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope co-located in Africa and Australia. UCT plays a lead role in SKA precursor projects to prototype tools that will help researchers transport, process, analyse and visualise SKA data. Among these is the MeerKAT project. Learn more here.

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program

Through the Scholars Program, UCT recruits, educates and mentors talented postgraduates from economically disadvantaged backgrounds in Africa. Over the 10 years of the initiative, 338 scholars will have enrolled at UCT and have carried their research skills back to their home countries. Learn more here.