CFAs: Radio Astronomy Advancement Programme (South Africa)
Section
The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory is requesting applications for its Radio Astronomy Advancement Programme to fund interventions, mostly workshops, that will contribute to the development of necessary scarce skills in radio astronomy-relevant science and engineering, within SARAO, the general radio astronomy community in South Africa, and in the SKA partner countries in Africa.
For 2026, applications that propose to develop skills in one or more of the following areas will be considered for support: Data Engineering/Computer Engineering or Cybersecurity – includes storage solutions, archive file systems, high performance/scientific computing etc. Radio Astronomy Data Analysis and Skills Development. Preference will be given to workshops using MeerKAT data. Space geodesy applications, data analysis and instrumentation. Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence techniques applied to Radio Astronomy. Digital Signal Processing Platforms and Algorithms. Systems Engineering. Radio Telescope Control and Monitoring systems. Software Development (Focusing on skills development in Python, C/C++ or CUDA). Radio Astronomy Electromagnetic and RF Systems.
Individuals eligible to apply include academic staff based at South African universities, including postdoctoral research fellows, as well as permanent and fixed-term staff members based at an astronomy national facility, including SARAO. Applicants may request a grant of up to R750,000 per workshop, with the number of grants awarded determined by the level of funding requested by successful proposals. Smaller grants may also be requested to co-fund workshops. A detailed budget is required for each application, including clear indication of co-funded items if additional support is being sought.
The deadline for the submission of proposals is 31 October 2025. Proposals will be evaluated by a panel consisting of SARAO science and engineering staff and may include academic staff from universities. Applicants will be notified of the outcome in February 2026, with funds for approved workshops transferred to the relevant institutions in April 2026. Workshops should be scheduled to take place between 1 June 2026 and 28 February 2027.
RAAP workshops should be designed to target postgraduate science and engineering students at South African universities, as well as young staff members within SARAO. Postgraduate students from the eight SKA Africa partner countries are also eligible, subject to available budget for international travel. To ensure inclusivity, no more than 30% of participants may come from the host institution, and gender balance and diversity must be considered during participant selection.
Evaluation of proposals will be based on the relevance and significance of the proposed skills outputs to radio astronomy science or engineering and specifically to the SKA, MeerKAT and HartRAO radio telescopes, and SARAO space geodesy instruments. The potential of the workshop to achieve its proposed objectives, the experience of facilitators, the availability of equipment and infrastructure, and cost effectiveness will also be assessed.
Allowable expenses under the RAAP grant include flights, accommodation at NRF-authorised levels, ground transport, catering, venue, and workshop-specific resources. The grant may not be used to purchase capital items beyond resources required directly for the workshop.
Applications must be submitted as a single PDF document and include the following information: contact person, contact details, workshop title, proposed date and duration, details of the organising committee, overview of the proposed workshop, objectives and skills outputs, proposed number and composition of delegates, high-level programme, proposed venue with justification, and budget details including co-funding where applicable. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.
