Supporting our researchers to compete on the international funding stage

This article is the first in a four-part series showcasing UCT's research-supporting units and departments.

Research is expensive, and in a highly constrained national funding environment like South Africa, UCT researchers need to be able to compete internationally for funding grants. This is why the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) Research Office (FRO) has a team dedicated to helping the faculty’s researchers find and secure international funding.  

This unit, known as the Research Development (RD) team, provides training, proposal development support as well as support for UCT’s internal pre-award process. In any given month the RD team interacts with up to 120 researchers, giving guidance and support. 

“Our mandate is to support and grow the health sciences research enterprise,” said Dr Rob Huddy, Proposal Development Project Manager. “To meet this mandate, we have a range of training and support mechanisms in place to help our researchers prepare and submit competitive grant applications to a range of funding agencies.” 

With FHS researchers submitting up to 20 new proposals to international funders monthly, this work is critical to the sustainability of the faculty’s research. 
 

Our mandate is to support and grow the health sciences research enterprise

Early-career researcher support  

Dr Huddy is particularly passionate about the programmes the team run for early-career researchers. 

To support early-career researchers, and hopefully empower them in future to tackle international grant proposals with greater confidence, the research development team hosts a variety of training sessions, ranging from webinars to full-day workshops to multi-day events. 

The multi-day events are focused on fellowship applications with a large research component, like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) K43 grant, and are designed to follow the logical progression of the proposal development process. 

Huddy said these training programmes are really beginning to show success, particularly with regards to the NIH’s K43 scheme, a particularly significant funding scheme as it is focused on empowering early-career researchers in low-and-middle-income countries to become leaders in their fields. 

“Applying for research grants can be overwhelming for any investigator,” said Dr Stephan Rabie, a psychologist and senior research officer in the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, who attended the K43 series of multi-day workshops, and was recently awarded the grant. 

“The RD team provides a framework and structure in which the different components of a grant application can be developed in digestible, accessible steps. Their experience in applying for funding allows investigators to include information that distinguishes us from other applicants.” 

Dr Bianca Davidson, nephrology consultant in the UCT Department of Medicine agrees:  

“Before my interaction with the [RD] team, big grants with their list of requirements were so intimidating, we never managed to complete the submissions. It was helpful to learn how to navigate the systems in UCT and how to approach the application for the best chance of success.” 

She said since completing the RD training her team’s proposal has been second rounded for an NIHR grant.  

“Whether we are granted it or not, what we have learnt will benefit us moving forward.” 
 

Before my interaction with the [RD] team, big grants with their list of requirements were so intimidating, we never managed to complete the submissions

Bespoke support 

The Research Development team is aware that different researchers have very different needs. They are always open to meeting with researchers, research groups or divisions to discuss funding options and support strategies. 

In some cases, this can just be one or two meetings in which the team will give guidance as to what kind of opportunities are available, and how best to search for them. Where they can, the team will alert researchers to funding opportunities relevant to their work. 

They also offer a dedicated support service, which involves a nominal cost to be borne by the principal investigator. This service is reserved for established researchers to lift the administrative burden from them so they can focus on the scientific elements of the proposal. In these cases, the RD team project manages the proposal development process. This includes liaising with other research-supporting professional and administrative departments at UCT, as well as with international collaborators where relevant.  They ensure that the proposal format complies with the specific funder requirements and upload the proposal to the funder portal. 

“It is a great feeling getting a notification that the grant was successful,” says Boitumelo Mdluli, RD grants co-ordinator, who provides administrative pre-award support and co-ordination of national and international funding proposals for the FHS researchers. 

“There's joy in seeing researchers thrive, knowing that our support has lifted a weight off their shoulders and allowed them to focus on their passion.” 

Tangible value of the support 

Dr Yolande Harley, Director of the FRO, said that while grant writing support had always been a function of the office, the critical importance of this service was really recognised when the FRO underwent a restructuring in 2019. It was at this time that the service was expanded from one dedicated grant writing project manager to a team of three, including the Research Development Manager, Proposal Development Project Manager and a Grants Coordinator. 
 

As the South African Department of Science and Innovation’s budget took another hit in 2024, with a decrease of R3 billion over three years, the pressure on the South African research community to look abroad for funding and do more with less increases. 
 

“At UCT’s Faculty of Health Sciences we have long-since punched above our weight in the international research arena,” said Dr Harley. “Part of our competitive edge is the innovation showed by our research-supporting professional and administrative staff, who are always introducing new strategies to support and empower our researchers.” 

 

To find out more about FHS funding opportunities visit the research funding web pages or subscribe to our newsletter.