Independent statutory body the National Research Foundation (NRF) has announced the start of its Global Knowledge Partnerships (GKP) programme for the 2023 academic year.

The programme places exceptional doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and early career researchers (ECRs) who are funded by the NRF at a number of international universities and research institutions.

The pool of these partner institutions is spread across various countries including Germany, Austria, the US, Japan, Singapore, Canada and several within the African continent, the NRF outlines.

It says the programme is premised on the need to accelerate the development of a diverse young researcher cohort into experts and a globally competitive workforce through the provision of platforms and pathways that offer opportunities for young researchers to access international networks, mentorship, global research funding streams, industry partnerships, and research infrastructure.

The programme is being realised through the guiding framework of the GKP programme, an NRF initiative which was implemented in 2020.

Through the GKP programme, the NRF, working in close collaboration with local and international partners in addition to the higher education sector in South Africa, intends to guide and monitor opportunities for outstanding NRF-funded doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and ECRs to spend a significant period, that is, three to 12 months for doctoral students and up to 18 months for postdoctoral fellows and ECRs, abroad at universities, research performing entities, science councils and in industry.

Applications must be submitted through the international partner’s online portal for specific programmes. With specific programmes, the reviewing and selection of applications will be conducted jointly by the international partner and the NRF.

Further details for students and their home universities are contained in the ‘Global Knowledge Partnerships Programme Implementation Framework for 2023 Academic Year’ which is accessible on the NRF website at https://www.nrf.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Global-Knowledge-Partnerships-Implementation-Framework-for-2023.pdf).