Funding Opportunities

Small grants ($500-$2,000) are awarded to support faculty affiliated with the Center for African Studies in their scholarship and research activities. The grant can be used for travel to attend a conference; a professional meeting; research abroad; and work aimed at increasing expertise in African Studies. See specific eligibility criteria below.

If you are interested, submit an application for funding through the link below and also provide a budget.

 

Apply here!

Fall funding deadline: May 31

Spring funding deadline: November 30th

 

We will require that you expend the funds granted to you within the fiscal year of the award as stipulated in your award letters. Exceptions will be made only with advance notifications of your intent to delay spending the money due to unexpected reasons. Please reach out to our Administrative Coordinator Rys Shultz with any questions.

 

Allowable budget items:

  • Airline tickets. Please include a quote from an agent or website
  • Food, lodging, and related incidental expenses with actual receipts can be reimbursed up to the US Department of State per diem rate
  • Conference or professional meeting registration
  • Purchase of relevant books or other resources

Non-allowable budget items:

  • Travel for individuals other than applicant
  • Payment to foreign national individuals for services provided outside the United States
  • Research activity costs to occur at Pitt
  • Equipment and any expenses unrelated to proposed activity

 

Eligibility:

The faculty applicant must be affiliated to the Center for African Studies. For faculty not yet affiliated with African Studies, you are invited to complete the online UCIS faculty survey as well as our faculty affiliation form if your teaching foci includes at least 25% of Africa-related content. The forms must be submitted prior to submission of the application for funding.

If awarded the grant, the faculty member will be required to present at either our Let’s Talk Africa forum or at our Critical Research on Africa lecture series. You will also be required to submit a brief report of your funded project and expenditure documents for our annual reporting.