Support for the South African National Health Research Enterprise in Response to USA Funding Withdrawals
Recognizing the catastrophic impact of USA funding cuts on the South African Health Research Enterprise since early 2025, the SAMRC raised substantial funding to support affected institutions/organisations and ran a Request for Applications (SAMRC-RFA-GIPD-04-2025), issued on 29 July 2025, for this purpose. The SAMRC is currently finalising around 60 grants with an estimated budget of around R226 million from this RFA.
Following the RFA outcomes, a number of USA awards were reinstated to varying extents. Further to this it remains evident that gaps in the South African National Health Research Enterprise remain as a result of the withdrawal of USA funding, despite some reinstatements.
The SAMRC is now pleased to launch this 2nd RFA to support any remaining gaps in funding. This second call, drawing from the same funding allocation, is intended to support additional national research activities impacted by the funding withdrawals, including projects that only received partial reinstatements. This forms part of the SAMRC’s continued strategic efforts to safeguard and strengthen the country’s research landscape. This program is supported by the South African Government, the Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust, through the SAMRC.
Importantly, this RFA does not seek to fund new research projects or to fully replace the original funding awards. It is intended to provide immediate bridging support to enable continuity of critical research, sustain key personnel and infrastructure and support post-doctoral studies interrupted by the USA funding cuts.
RFA details
Kindly view the full details of the 2nd Request for Applications: Support for the South African National Health Research Enterprise in Response to U.S. Funding Withdrawals and FAQ’s
Documents to be uploaded/submitted:
- Completed online application: SAMRC-RFA-GIPD-06-2025
- Abridged Proposal in SAMRC template and signed by the designated institutional authority
- Abridged Budget in SAMRC template (in ZAR)
- USA funded original project proposal and budget
- Most recent notice of award (NOA)
- Letter of termination or any related communication
- Most recent project progress report
The deadline for online application submission and submission of supporting documents is 19 February 2026, 23:59 SAST.
No emailed applications will be accepted.
Any enquiries to be addressed to gipd.rfa@mrc.ac.za