The Royal Society supports exceptional researchers to address the key global challenge themes, promotes international collaboration and strengthens research capacity in developing countries.

Future Leaders – African Independent Research (FLAIR) Fellowships 

FLAIR Fellowships are for talented African early career researchers who have the potential to become leaders in their field. These fellowships provide the opportunity to build an independent research career in a sub-Saharan African institution and to undertake cutting-edge scientific research that will address global challenges facing developing countries.

This is a partnership between the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the Royal Society, supported by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).

International Collaboration Awards

This award offers an exciting opportunity to foster and promote international collaboration between outstanding research groups in the UK and overseas, with a view to supporting work on global challenges and problems facing developing countries.

The objectives of these challenge awards are to: 

• support the development of sustainable collaborative partnerships between outstanding researchers in the UK and the best research groups in developing countries to generate new approaches to the most significant and complex problems faced by developing countries 
• strengthen research capacity in developing countries through collaboration, sharing of knowledge and skills and exchange of staff between research groups in the UK and their partners in developing countries
• attract outstanding international scientists from developing countries and their teams to work with the UK’s best universities and research institutions
• support the research of the best UK scientists working in fields relevant to the Global Challenges to formulate new approaches to global development problems

GCRF Challenge-led Grants 

This scheme, led by the Royal Society on behalf of the National Academies, provides funding to support research consortia involving groups in the UK and developing countries to address Global Challenges with a focus on resilience.

Objectives of the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Challenge-led Grants are:

• Funding excellence – Generate excellent and novel research on global challenges directly and primarily relevant to developing countries that cuts across multiple thematic areas covered by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Supporting collaboration – Support the development of sustainable consortia comprising outstanding researchers in the UK and the best research groups in DAC-list countries to generate new approaches to the most significant and complex problems faced by developing countries.
• Promoting interdisciplinary approaches – Promote collaboration across different disciplines to take an interdisciplinary approach that generates new knowledge and insights from across different research disciplines.
• Strengthening research capacity – Strengthen research capacity in developing countries through collaboration, sharing of knowledge and skills, and exchange of staff between research groups in the UK and their partners in developing countries.

GCRF Resilient Futures Initiative 

The Royal Society works with the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Medical Sciences to deliver several other GCRF programmes as part of the Academies’ GCRF Resilient Futures Initiative. These programmes include the GCRF Networking Grants, led by the Academy of Medical Sciences but open to applicants across all academy disciplines, and the series of interdisciplinary and international Frontiers of Development symposia led by the Royal Academy of Engineering.