Are you passionate about enhancing school leadership to promote educational quality, equity, and system resilience across Africa? We are offering up to $15,000 for Descriptive Action Research and $35,000 for Comparative Action Research to support the generation of high-quality, context-specific, and policy-relevant evidence on school leadership in eligible African countries.
The research is an initiative of Education Sub Saharan Africa (ESSA), VVOB – Education for Development, and Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), under the African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) with funding from Mastercard Foundation.
Call for Applications – Other Africa Countries
Grants Overview
- Application Deadline: Sunday, 11th January 2026 at 11.59pm GMT
- Eligible countries: Tanzania (Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar) and other African countries.
- Research Duration: 12 months (Descriptive Action Research) and 24 months (Comparative Action Research).
- Webinar with more information: Tuesday, 2nd December 2025 at 12.00pm–1:30 pm GMT (3.00 pm-4.30pm EAT)
Why this Matters
Evidence reviewed by ACSL, along with insights from stakeholder engagements, identified a research gap in school leadership across the continent. Studies are limited, fragmented, and often insufficiently connected to policy reforms or system priorities.
This complicates efforts to generate distinct and comprehensive insights on leadership itself. Moreover, many African researchers experience inadequate access to research funding, often relying on personal resources to initiate or complete their projects.
Why Fund African Education Researchers
We aim to build local research capacity by directly supporting African education researchers to produce new, context-specific evidence on school leadership that can inform policy, strengthen practice, and advance advocacy efforts across countries.
Who is Eligible
African researchers based in Africa with a PhD and affiliated with an African university, research institution, government department/ministry, or other recognised research or knowledge organisation are encouraged to apply. Experienced researchers without a PhD may also apply, provided they demonstrate a strong research track record.
Proposals that demonstrate collaboration with early-career researchers, include women researchers, involve practitioners such as head teachers or middle-tier educators, and/or reflect geographical diversity are strongly encouraged to apply.
The proposed research must clearly align with one or more of the priority school leadership themes identified in the concept note.
Apply today and join other researchers shaping the future of school leadership in Africa.