The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), through its National Health Research Enterprise (NHRE) Programme, invites applications for research projects that address priority challenges within South Africa's health system.

The NHRE Programme is intended to strengthen the sustainability, resilience and impact of South Africa's health research ecosystem at a time when international funding for health research has declined. Supported by the SAMRC, National Treasury through the National Department of Health, the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust, the programme aims to retain critical research infrastructure and scientific expertise while generating research that contributes to improved public health outcomes, evidence-informed policy and stronger health systems.

This Request for Applications (RFA) focuses specifically on Health Systems Research. It seeks projects that generate knowledge, evidence, tools, innovations, platforms, interventions or implementation models that address clearly defined health system gaps and have a practical pathway towards policy uptake, health-system strengthening, equitable access to quality healthcare, scalability and measurable impact within the South African public health system.

Priority Research Areas

Applications must address one or more of the following health systems research priorities:

• Integrated service delivery models that improve coordination across infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and maternal, newborn and child health programmes.
• Integrated primary healthcare models that strengthen prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and long-term management, including digital surveillance, patient tracking, referral, linkage-to-care, treatment monitoring and clinical decision-support systems.
• Health system building blocks, including governance, health financing, laboratory networks, human resources for health, task-shifting, surveillance, digital health systems, supply chains, health information systems and healthcare provider-patient interactions.
• Differentiated, decentralised, patient-centred and community-based healthcare models that improve prevention, case finding, health literacy, stigma reduction, referral, access, retention and continuity of care, particularly for key populations.
• Health product introduction and health-system readiness, including research relating to the evaluation, regulation, financing, procurement, implementation, adoption, scale-up and post-introduction evaluation of medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, medical devices and digital health technologies.
• Evidence-informed decision-making and knowledge translation, including health technology assessment, evidence-to-policy initiatives, regulatory science and approaches that support the uptake of research findings and innovations into policy and practice.
• Health economics and service planning, including cost-effectiveness analysis and research supporting resource allocation and reimbursement decisions. 

Research must relate to one or more of the following priority health areas: HIV, tuberculosis, other infectious diseases, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, cancer, mental health, and women's, maternal, neonatal and child health. Applications outside these areas are out of scope.

The RFA is particularly interested in research that can translate evidence into health policy, improved service delivery, stronger systems, greater equity and sustainable implementation. Research focused primarily on clinical efficacy, basic science, laboratory discovery or product development without a health-systems focus is not eligible under this call.

Funding Available

The RFA will support projects of up to three years, with funding of up to:

R2 million per year
Maximum R6 million over three years

Successful projects are expected to commence approximately March/April 2027. Applicants should submit realistic and well-motivated budgets, with the RFA noting that lower budgets may enable more proposals to be funded.

Who Can Apply?

The opportunity is open to researchers based at:

• South African public universities
• Public research entities
• Science councils
• National facilities
• Other recognised South African research institutions whose primary purpose includes research and postgraduate training at Master's and PhD level.

The Principal Investigator (PI) must be a South African citizen or permanent resident and must be employed by an eligible South African institution capable of administering the grant.

Non-governmental and non-profit organisations whose primary purpose is not research and postgraduate training, private companies, civil society organisations and non-South African entities cannot apply as the lead applicant, but may participate as collaborators under an eligible institution.

Applicants must demonstrate scientific merit, feasibility, ethical and regulatory readiness, institutional support and a clear pathway to scientific advancement, public health impact, policy uptake, product development and/or implementation.

Application Requirements

Applicants must submit:

• Completed online application: SAMRC-RFA-GIPD-04-2026
• CVs of the Principal Investigator and co-investigator(s)
• Detailed proposal using the SAMRC template, including the required declaration and institutional approval
• Detailed budget using the SAMRC template. 

Applications must be submitted online. No applications submitted by email will be accepted. Applications must be complete, submitted by the deadline and endorsed by the relevant authorised institutional representative. Late, incomplete or unsigned applications will not be accepted.

Important Dates

RFA Release Date: 12 August 2026
Application Deadline: 16 October 2026 at 23:59 SAST
Review of Applications: October–December 2026
Notification of Awards: January–March 2027
Expected Project Start: Approximately March/April 2027.

Evaluation

Applications will first undergo SAMRC screening for eligibility, completeness, responsiveness to the priority areas and compliance with administrative requirements. Eligible applications will then undergo national and/or international peer review.

Peer review will consider factors including significance, relevance and potential impact; the quality and innovation of the approach; the strength and complementarity of the research team; research environment and infrastructure; and capacity development and collaboration. Particular consideration is given to the potential for positive health, economic or societal impact and the ability of the research to contribute to healthcare policy, practice and system-level solutions.

Country

South Africa

There is an important distinction, though: international researchers or organisations could potentially participate as collaborators, but they cannot be the lead applicant/PI under the eligibility requirements we have.

Click HERE to visit the official website.