Research

All our research programmes are designed to support the University of Oxford’s international research agenda across the sciences, social sciences and humanities by bringing together researchers in African institutions and Oxford to address pressing issues facing us today.

Our researcher database is a platform to connect with Oxford-based researchers from across disciplines who are keen to collaborate with colleagues based in African institutions. Over the last 5 years over 300 Oxford-based researchers from across disciplines have signed up to share ideas, knowledge and expertise with African colleagues. 

The AfOx Visiting Fellowship Program enhances academic mobility and network building. The program supports leading African scholars and researchers working in any academic discipline to focus on a project they choose while in Oxford. The AfOx Visiting Fellows Programme enables research leaders from institutions across Africa to make significant contributions to the intellectual life of Oxford while simultaneously gaining opportunities to engage with the range of knowledge and expertise in the University.

AfOx Fellows have developed long-term partnerships with colleagues in Oxford, leading to significant research outcomes, joint publications and substantial funding. The 2023 AfOx Visiting Fellows are working on projects across various disciplines, from literature, classics and business management to chemical and metallurgical engineering, mathematics, medicine and geophysics. Spread across the four AfOx research themes, Healthy People, Innovation for Prosperity, Integrated Societies, and Green Futures, the fellows will be affiliated with the University for a year and spend May and June 2023 in Oxford.

Applications for the 2023-24 fellowship are currently open. More information on how to apply can be found here.

The Senior AfOx Visiting Fellows Programme allow outstanding African researchers to undertake a Fellowship of up to a full academic year at the University of Oxford. The Senior Fellowships enable sustained engagement including during term time, allowing Fellows to share their expertise broadly across Oxford as well as build long-term institutional collaborations with Oxford.

AfOx Catalyst Grants provide seed funding for the development of new collaborative research between researchers based in African institutions and at the University of Oxford. Catalyst Grants are open to all disciplines and applications can be made throughout the year.  

The AfOx Research Development Awards are a competitive pump-priming fund aimed at supporting previous Travel Grant recipients and Visiting Fellows to stimulate larger collaborative projects that will strengthen Africa-Oxford partnerships and make the collaborating partners competitive for future major awards.

The AfOx insakas convene researchers, students, alumni, the wider AfOx community and guests from around the world to share ideas and knowledge about Africa-focused research. Each insaka features two speakers from diverse disciplines followed by a Q&A and networking session.