FAR-LeaF Programme | About

The Future Africa Research Leadership Fellowship (FAR-LeaF II) is a two-year research-oriented fellowship programme, supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and hosted at Future Africa. The programme focuses on future-looking science leadership and developing the next generation of African scientists and academics.

The programme seeks to build a network of emerging African scientists with the skills to apply transformative research methods and approaches in addressing complex sustainability challenges in Africa, including inter- and transdisciplinarity, systems thinking, and futures literacy. Furthermore, it will provide multiple research and learning opportunities across different sectors of science and society, aiming to create sustainable solutions in real-world contexts, establish communities of practice, and address the broad scope of sustainability, sustainable development, resilience, and greater social cohesion.

The FAR-LeaF II programme follows the first FAR-LeaF programme, which supported research focused on sustainability and well-being on the African continent. The research in the new FAR-LeaF II programme will extend and build upon the FAR-LeaF research, focusing on sustainability science, resilience, and social cohesion. The Fellowship will support early-career researchers in conducting research projects that address national and regional challenges in sustainable development.

The importance and relevance of sustainability science in Africa are exemplified by the need to:

• Advance the development and full integration of the natural sciences with the social and human sciences as a cross-cutting research approach.

• Generate actionable knowledge relevant to achieving sustainable development goals in Africa.Articulate African perspectives on and solutions to geopolitical challenges and opportunities related to achieving these goals.

The envisaged research will harness the tools of the digital revolution to fuel scientific discovery and advance societal engagement toward sustainability. Technology is embedded in the research programme, and training will ensure that research projects build on cutting-edge technological advancements to deliver tangible, inclusive, and transformative research outputs. The proposed research and training (in the programme) will integrate research and technology skills to strengthen scientific capacity. Applying novel co-design and co-production methodologies, along with other relevant approaches, is vital for high-quality integrated research.