Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunity in South Africa

The University of Pretoria (UP) invites UP academic researchers to  apply for postdoctoral fellowships.

 Thefellowships enable academics to conduct research in areas aligned with UP’s priorities, especially those related to institutional platforms at the  University such as the Future Africa institute and campus, the Javett Art Centre at UP, and others. This call for applications is for 18 to 20  postdoctoral fellowships that are available at the University.

Applications should be submitted by UP researchers who wish to host 

postdoctoral fellows and act as supervisors. Priority will be given to 

international fellows.

The value of each postdoctoral fellowship is R200 000 a year for a 

period of two years. At the end of the first year, the renewal of the 

fellowship will be subject to the submission of a satisfactory-progress 

report to UP’s Department of Research and Innovation (DRI). 

The progress report should be approved by the supervisor, head of 

department and dean or deputy dean of the faculty where the  postdoctoral fellow is based before it is submitted to the DRI. 

APPLICATION PROCESS

a) Applications should be submitted by UP academic staff members 

who wish to host and supervise postdoctoral fellows.

b) UP supervisors should indicate whether they have already

identified potential candidates or if they intend to identify suitable 

candidates once their application is successful.

c) UP supervisors should submit a fully completed application form to 

the office of the dean of the faculty where the supervisor is based. 

• The application form is attached or is available at:

https://www.up.ac.za/postdoctoral-

research/article/2810642/postdoctoral-funding-opportunities

• The form can also be obtained from Mpho Maithufi; email 

mpho.maithufi@up.ac.za. 

• The deadline for submission of applications to faculties is 

27 September 2021.

d) Faculties will review and rank the applications, and submit the 

ranked lists to the DRI by 11 October 2021.

e) The UP Postdoctoral Programme Committee will review and select 

the best applicants to be awarded postdoctoral fellowships.

 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Postdoctoral fellowship candidates identified by supervisors 

must have obtained their doctoral degrees within the past five 

years as of 27 September 2021. 

• Candidates who have not yet completed their PhD at the time of 

application should submit an official letter from their institution 

confirming that their doctoral qualification will be completed by 

December 2021. If this requirement is not met, the application

for the fellowship will be disqualified. 

• Candidates must not be over 40 years of age at the time of the 

application submission.