Meaning-Making Research Initiatives (MRI) 2026 – Special Call for Female Scholars

About the Opportunity

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) invites applications for the Meaning-Making Research Initiatives (MRI) 2026 – Special Call for Female Scholars. The MRI programme supports ambitious research that contributes to understanding, interpreting, and shaping African futures through rigorous conceptual and empirical work in the social sciences and humanities. This special call aims to significantly increase the participation, visibility, and leadership of female scholars in research that addresses key challenges facing African societies.

CODESRIA, founded in 1973, champions research by African and African Diaspora scholars to deepen insight into societal dynamics and inform collective efforts toward equity, rights, well-being, and inclusive development across the continent. The MRI represents the Council’s principal mechanism for supporting collaborative, innovative research that engages core thematic priorities and cross-cutting issues of the CODESRIA 2023-2027 Strategic Plan.

 

What the Fellowship Offers

Successful research groups selected under this special call will receive financial support of up to USD 25,000 to implement a 16-month research project that contributes new analytical perspectives or methodological innovations to the understanding of African social realities.

Projects supported under MRI are encouraged to go beyond traditional academic formats such as books or journal articles and explore alternative ways of knowledge production, dissemination, and engagement.

 

Who Should Apply

This special call is open exclusively to female scholars organized into research groups. Each group must:

  • Be headed by a female scholar and consist primarily of women researchers.
  • Have between three and five members.
  • Adhere to CODESRIA’s principles of gender, linguistic, intergenerational, and interdisciplinary diversity.
  • African scholars residing on the continent, with limited inclusion of members of the Diaspora.
  • Previous MRI grant recipients are not eligible to apply.
  • Applications from consulting firms or individual consultants are not accepted
  • In exceptional cases where a specific academic profile is essential – CODESRIA may admit a predominantly female group with a small number of male members.
  • Groups may be composed of scholars from a single country or multiple countries, and cross-national collaboration is encouraged.
  • The group coordinator must hold a PhD at the time of application submission.

 

Thematic Priorities

All research proposals must align with CODESRIA’s 2023-2027 thematic priorities and cross-cutting issues, which include:

  • The State and Democratization in Africa
  • Transformations in African Economies
  • Ecologies and Society in Africa
  • Cross-cutting issues include History, Memory and Archive; Gender; Generations; Rurality and Urbanity.

Proposals are expected to demonstrate theoretical ambition, originality, and a clear understanding of existing scholarship within the Council’s research community.

 

Application Deadline & Submission

Deadline for submission: 27 February 2026.

Applications must be submitted through the CODESRIA online submission system using the dedicated form available on the Council’s website.

Required application materials include:

  • A concise research proposal and methodology;
  • A realistic research budget tailored to the 16-month project period;
  • An annotated plan of deliverables;
  • Institutional support letters and CVs of group members.

Proposals should be prepared in a Word document and not exceed 10 pages (excluding required templates).

 

Important Notice

This funding opportunity is external to our organization and is shared for informational purposes only