Address Africa-Relevant Global Challenges

The MIT-Africa Seed Fund supports innovative projects that will help to lay the foundations for new research and education initiatives between MIT and African collaborators. This fund is offered annually by the Office of the Associate Provost for International Activities in association with the MIT-Africa Distinguished Visitors Program.

The GSF application cycle for 2023-2024 is now closed

Winslow Tohoku group photo sHayashi eed

The GSF Application is now closed. Winners will be announced in early May. 

MIT-Africa Seed Fund

Interested Principal Investigators from all schools, departments, labs, and centers across MIT are encouraged to submit proposals in the following categories:

1. Projects in all research areas that will contribute to addressing a specific challenge in Africa or shared by African colleagues. These can be the beginning explorations of larger research projects, they can be entirely self-contained research projects, or they can be planning exercises that result in a more well-articulated and larger-scale research proposal.

2. Other non-research activities that promote engagement and collaboration in topics and activities that may involve Africa, such as developing a course, masterclass, or hackathon, strengthening the innovation/entrepreneurship ecosystem, etc.

Funding may be used for, but is not limited to

  • travel & meeting costs to facilitate collaboration in Africa
  • MIT salaries (e.g. faculty summer months, RAs, postdocs, etc.)
  • materials & supplies
  • services
  • equipment
  • indirect costs

Funding may not be used for salaries for foreign collaborators.

All general Global Seed Funds criteria, application, and evaluation procedures apply.

$35,000

Projects developed in consultation with visitors of the MIT-Africa Distinguished Visitors Program or inspired by these visits are of particular interest to this funding mechanism.

Ari Jacobovits

Ari Cropped Headshot

Managing Director, MIT-Africa Seed Fund