Research grant allocations restore faith in fledgling agency

It is three years since the call for applications was made, but Kenya’s National Research Fund (NRF) has finally announced the recipients of its second round of research grants, giving the nascent agency a much-needed lifeline.

The announcement has come as a big relief to applicants who have endured years of anxious waiting dating back to 2017 when the call was made. A public announcement of the beneficiaries was expected in early 2018 and since then there has been very little official feedback from the NRF on the fate of the grants.

The funding, for 172 PhD projects and 58 multidisciplinary research projects, amounts to a total of US$10.6 million, according to NRF Chief Executive Jemimah Onsare, with approximately US$1.1 million being allocated to doctoral research projects, and the balance of about US$9.5 million to multidisciplinary projects.

The multidisciplinary projects are meant to support Kenya’s development agenda focusing on what is known as the ‘Big Four’: food security, affordable housing, manufacturing and universal healthcare.

Universities are set to benefit from more than 90% of the money meant for multidisciplinary research initiatives, since 51 of 58 of the projects that have secured funding are led by researchers based in universities.

Overall, the amount allocated is substantially less than the funds disbursed under the inaugural call made in the 2016-17 financial year, when a total of US$30 million was issued.

The delay in announcing the recipients caused anxiety among the country’s research community. Some of the applicants, especially those pursuing PhDs, were frustrated by the long delay and sought alternative sources to support their research work.

However, the announcement has gone some way towards restoring faith in the government and the NRF’s ability to support research.

“It has come as a big relief to know that I will now be able to undertake research for my doctorate this year after an anxious wait,” said Christopher Maina, a grant winner who had put his doctoral research at Kenyatta University on hold.

The deferment of the announcement also led to speculation about the future of the NRF, a young organisation carved from the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation in 2014 to fund scientific research.

“The projects were delayed by one financial year, 2018-19, due to the previous pending programmes which were to be cleared first,” Onsare told University World News.

She said the advent of COVID-19 would not interfere with the disbursement of the monies to beneficiaries, even after the organisation made three “national strategic” calls for applications for collaborative research grants last week, including one meant to find ways of responding to the pandemic.

The calls for collaborative research are focused on COVID-19, control of the desert locust in Kenya, and cancer. While coronavirus has hit every corner of the world, including Kenya, the East African country has also been battling a massive locust invasion since January, and cancer has in recent years also become a major killer.

The NRF CEO said separate plans for funding each of the programmes was in place.

“No major changes are expected as proper plans are in place for the three national strategic calls that are open,” she said.