Cultivating research leaders for a sustainable Future Africa

Africa’s scientific landscape faces well-documented challenges: low research output and limited participation in global scientific discourse. These deficits hinder the continent’s ability to respond to its ‘wicked problems’ and contribute meaningfully to global knowledge and sustainability.

One promising approach to tackling this issue is to focus on developing homegrown science leadership capacity. By empowering emerging African academics to not only advance their own research but also mentor others and inspire innovation, they and their institutions can unlock scientific potential and drive sustainable development across the continent.

Future Africa, a pioneering initiative of the University of Pretoria in South Africa, is taking up this challenge.



As a transdisciplinary collaborative research platform for the continent, Future Africa is committed to fostering scientific excellence and innovation across Africa. It is tackling complex challenges and fostering collaboration across disciplines, sectors and countries to create solutions for sustainable development.

“Future Africa doesn’t want to be limited to the University of Pretoria,” says Professor Wanda Markotter, interim director. “We want to develop expertise across Africa. This will build sustainability in the long run.”

Countering the African ‘brain drain’

Markotter’s vision is particularly crucial in the context of the ongoing ‘brain drain’ from Africa, where skilled professionals, including researchers, often seek opportunities elsewhere.

“I’m worried about the expertise we’re losing,” says Markotter. “As soon as someone becomes an expert, they often leave Africa because we don’t create opportunities for them to stay. We need to create structures and opportunities to keep our expertise.”

One of the platform’s most impactful initiatives in this regard is the Future Africa Research Leadership Fellowship (FAR-LeaF), a two-year programme supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

FAR-LeaF focuses on developing transdisciplinary research and leadership skills among early-career scientists in Africa. By providing fellows with the tools and support they need to thrive, the programme is cultivating a new generation of research leaders able to transform the African scientific landscape and advance sustainability.

Can FAR-LeaF be considered an African initiative by Africans for Africans? “Yes,” says Professor Stephanie Burton, programme director of FAR-LeaF. “Although it’s funded internationally, the programme helps individuals develop their research at home in Africa.

“They stay in their institutions, except for brief visits to Future Africa for workshops and focused academic trips elsewhere. They already hold positions at their home institutions; the fellowship enables them to build their research activity while also growing networks locally and globally.”

Sustainable development

The FAR-LeaF programme is in step with the growing global focus on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). As defined by UNESCO), ESD promotes transformative approaches to education that integrate environmental, social and economic issues.

FAR-LeaF embodies this transformative spirit by equipping fellows with the skills and knowledge to tackle complex, often interrelated, sustainability challenges in Africa.

“We are founded on the concept of sustainability and sustainable development, which is inherently transdisciplinary,” explains Burton.

The concept of transdisciplinarity is central to FAR-LeaF.

Dr Leti Kleyn, digital platform coordinator for the programme, notes that “the important part is the bottom-up approach – identifying community problems and taking everyone along in the process, all the way to national policy”. This ensures that research is not confined to the academic ‘ivory tower’ but tackles real-world challenges.

She cites an article by Cyrille Rigolot in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, published by Springer Nature, which argues that the essence of transdisciplinarity is a “way of being”. Rigolot argues that transdisciplinarity extends beyond the inclusion of non-academic stakeholders in knowledge production. It becomes a way of life, inseparable from personal and professional experiences.

Nurturing leadership potential

FAR-LeaF cultivates leadership that goes beyond individual achievement, fostering collaboration and societal impact.

“We look for initiative – the capacity to take the lead and make a difference, not only academically, but also institutionally and within the community. Leadership is about identifying challenges, taking the initiative to address them, and working collaboratively,” says Burton.

As a former vice-principal for research and postgraduate education at the University of Pretoria, from 2011 to 2020, and immediate past interim president of the Academy of Science of South Africa, Burton is well-versed in research development.

She explains the genesis of FAR-LeaF, and how its particular focus came about.

“While there’s enormous talent in Africa, we’re not seeing enough leadership development, particularly in the ranks of emerging researchers.

“Also, academics tend not to be well-connected with other researchers in Africa. We don’t see enough networks, which means existing talent isn’t maximised through collaboration.

“So, FAR-LeaF brings together talented people who are interested in developing their research careers, leadership skills and becoming part of broader networks. It’s not just about individual development; it’s about linking them together and creating more productive networks.”

How the programme works

The FAR-LeaF programme begins with a rigorous selection process. “We select based on a research plan aligned with our focus areas,” Burton explains.

“This is not a PhD or regular postdoctoral fellowship. Applicants must already hold a doctorate, be under 45 for men and 50 for women, and have an existing academic position at a higher education institution or research institute.

“We also include the fellow’s mentor or line manager in the interview, ensuring that they have institutional support to build their research programme and networks.”

High demand for such a programme highlights the critical need for leadership development in Africa. “It’s incredibly difficult to make the final selection. For Cohort 2, we received around 400 applications for just 25 positions,” reveals Burton.

This underscores the immense untapped potential within the continent’s research community.

Once selected, fellows participate in a comprehensive programme that includes:

• Regular online meetings to foster communication and collaboration.

• Training workshops on leadership, research methodologies, ethics, supervision, and science communication.

• Mentorship with experienced academics.

• Regional workshops, organised by fellows, to build networks and strengthen community leadership.

“It’s been astounding how well this works,” says Burton.

The success of FAR-LeaF is evident in the achievements of its first cohort of fellows from nine African countries – Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Together, they produced almost 300 outputs, including research articles, book chapters, policy documents, public communications and community engagement initiatives.

“It’s been a fantastic journey,” says Kleyn. “The fellows are chosen for their great ideas, which are developed during the programme, enabling them to realise their ambition of changing the world.

“It was amazing to see how they worked in communities, setting up or participating in about 70 networks.”

The fellows

Dr Anna Msigwa from the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in Tanzania, spoke to University World News and described her participation in FAR-LeaF as transformative: “This was my first funded grant project after my PhD, marking my transition to an independent researcher. I gained leadership and research skills, including how to conduct transdisciplinary research, engaging diverse stakeholders in the process.”

Msigwa’s work on using remote sensing and machine learning to improve water efficiency in maize farming has significant implications for food security. Besides participating in FAR-LeaF, she also received an early-career fellowship from the Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World for her modelling of drought prediction in Tanzania.

Another of the 10 women in Cohort 1 was Dr Tabitha Amollo from Egerton University in Kenya, who specialises in solid-state physics and materials sciences. She developed a solar-powered refrigeration system for medicines, specifically vaccines, which has significant implications for healthcare in rural areas.

Asked about challenges facing up-and-coming researchers in Africa, Amollo highlighted a “lack of adequate research facilities” – which is why she helped set up a material science physics laboratory with a self-sustaining financial model to support research at her institution.

Amollo has since been awarded a visiting research scholar position in the African Futures Research Leadership Program of Michigan State University in the United States.

Networks for the future

Beyond the impact on individual fellows, perhaps the biggest impact of the programme is its ripple effect across Africa. “The fellows learn from each other,” says Burton.

“We bring together people from different fields, but they have common ground in research and learn from each other’s approaches. There’s also a pay-it-forward element, with fellows teaching their postgraduate students, fieldworkers and community members,” adds Kleyn.

This network-building approach extends beyond the duration of the fellowship.

“In the second round, we’re seeing people proposing work aligned with previous fellows,” says Burton. “We can’t fund all proposals, but we encourage new applicants to connect with previous fellows for collaboration.”

Brighter future

Building on the success of its first cohort, FAR-LeaF II will continue to focus on developing transdisciplinary research and leadership skills, with an added emphasis on the politics of sustainability.

“FAR-LeaF II will emphasise tangible solutions to highly complex challenges that have profound implications for research, collaboration, institutional responsibilities and governance,” states the call for applications, which closed in December 2024. The new cohort is set to be announced in February 2025.

By cultivating a new generation of African science leaders, Future Africa, through its FAR-LeaF initiative, is laying the groundwork for a brighter future. The programme highlights the transformative power of higher education and research to tackle Africa’s pressing challenges and ensure that the continent claims its rightful place on the global scientific stage.