DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development

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Grants & Bursaries

The DSTI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development (CoE-HUMAN) facilitates the awarding of bursaries in response to proposals that fall into the thematic areas of the Centre.

Apply for a postgraduate bursary for 2027

The CoE-HUMAN awards bursaries to deserving Masters and Doctoral students:

  • Masters students are funded for two years at R190 306 a year (dependent on Full Cost of Study (FCS) or Partial Cost of Study (PCS)).
  • Doctoral students are funded for three years at R195 725 a year (dependent on FCS or PCS).
  • Kindly note that Masters and Doctoral funding applications are for the 2027 intake.
  • Students with disabilities as well as African continent students (other than SADC) and international students who are studying in a South African university are also encouraged to apply.

Please note that all Masters and Doctoral proposals should be aligned with one of these core CoE-HUMAN themes. However, proposals can overlap across all three core themes:

  1. Life-course development: The study of human development from conception to death. It describes the development of individuals from conception to death, including multi-disciplinary studies of child, adolescent, and adult development.
  2. Intergenerational development: The study of human development across generations. It describes the life cycle from one generation to the next, and includes studies of families and parental influence, both social and biological.
  3. Socioecological and transformational development: The study of interactions between societies, households, and their natural environment. It represents the interdependencies between societies, societal members, and their natural environment. It includes a transdisciplinary mode of research where economic growth can be reconciled with social and environmental objectives.

Grant holders on PCS or FCS funding may receive supplementary funding from another private-sector source, another South African government source, the NRF supervisor’s running expenses (SARChI, CoEs, etc.) or any other source (e.g. Merit Awards), provided that the total funding received from the NRF and the other source(s) does not exceed institutional maximum limit for the respective levels of study. The award of bursaries is governed by the Ministerial Guidelines for Improving Equity in the Distribution of DSI-NRF Bursaries and Fellowships (2013). In terms of these guidelines, bursaries are intended primarily for South African citizens and permanent residents; although a small number of foreign and SADC citizens will be considered. South Africans registered at foreign universities are not eligible.

Applicants are requested to submit the following documents

  1. Proof of registration
  2. Certified copy of your South African ID book (for South African citizens and permanent residents) and Passport (for foreign and SADC citizens)
  3. Project proposal and relevance to the topic of Human Development
  4. Certified copies of your qualifications and academic transcript
  5. Supervisor recommendation and letter of support
  6. 2027 Application form

Contact details

Only applications that include the above requirements will be considered. Applicants should submit their documents (submission deadline: 22 April 2026) and direct their enquires to Ms Rebecca Mudau; email: COE.Human@wits.ac.za

Please note the age criteria in the year of application is 30 years for a Masters degree and 32 years for a Doctoral degree.

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