NRF invites applications for Postgraduate Research Grants for the 2025/2026 Financial Year. This national research call is a strategic intervention aimed at strengthening Kenya’s Science, Technology, and Innovation (ST&I) ecosystem by supporting high-quality postgraduate research that contributes to innovation, evidence-based policymaking, and inclusive national development in line with the Government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).

OBJECTIVES

• Support postgraduate researchers to undertake innovative and original research
• Enhance research skills, mentorship, and timely completion of postgraduate studies in scientific areas that lack sufficient human capacity.
• Generate knowledge with academic, policy, and/or societal impact in national priority areas.
• Promote interdisciplinary and inclusive research approaches.

The Grant will support only the research component for masters or doctoral degree training programmes on projects addressing the national development agenda, within, but not limited to, the following thematic areas:

• Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences
• Physical, Industrial and Energy Sciences
• Biological and Health Sciences;
• Infrastructure, Information and Communication Sciences
• Humanities and Social Sciences
• Earth and Space Sciences
• Emerging technologies 

ELIGIBILITY

Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:

1. Be a Kenyan citizen;
2. Be below thirty-five (35) years for Masters and forty-five (45) years for PhD research, respectively, at the time of application;
3. Be a full-time postgraduate researcher (Masters or PhD) duly registered at a recognized Kenyan institution;
4. Have an approved research proposal duly endorsed by the applicant’s supervisor and/or the relevant postgraduate board;
5. Demonstrate the feasibility of completing the proposed research within the grant period; and,
6. Not be a beneficiary of another grant covering the same research costs.

BUDGET AND GRANT DURATION

A successful doctoral proposal will be funded up to a maximum of Kenya Shillings Two million (Ksh 2,000,000/=) for a period not exceeding three (3) years, while a Masters proposal will be funded up to a maximum of five hundred thousand (Ksh 500,000/=) for a period of one (1) year.

This call is open to researchers from both public and private Universities.

All applications must be accompanied by an endorsement letter which should be signed by the researcher, supervisor(s), Graduate school/faculty, and the Head of University/Institution, and should bear the official stamp of the institution.

This is a RESEARCH GRANT and should NOT be used to pay tuition fees. (Postgraduate research grants will be administered by the University/Institution where the researcher is registered.)