The Social Science Research Council-backed programme will provide funding for researchers and doctoral students working on peacebuilding, governance and development challenges across Africa.

The African Peacebuilding and Developmental Dynamics (APDD) programme has launched its 2027 fellowship competition, offering 30 awards to support African scholars, practitioners and doctoral students undertaking research on peacebuilding, governance and developmental dynamics in conflict-affected contexts across the continent. The programme is administered by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) and funded by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation.

The 2027 competition includes five funding streams valued between $3,000 and $12,000. Nine Individual Research Fellowships and one Research Policy Fellowship will each provide up to $12,000. A further nine Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowships will also offer up to $12,000, while eight Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowships are worth up to $8,000 each. Three Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Fellowships will provide up to $3,000 to support early-stage doctoral research.

The fellowships are designed to support researchers at different career stages. Individual Research Fellowships will fund up to nine months of fieldwork and writing by early- to mid-career academics and practitioners, while doctoral awards will support proposal development, dissertation fieldwork or thesis completion. The Research Policy Fellowship is reserved for former Individual Research Fellows and provides an opportunity to gain experience within policy institutions and practitioner organisations.

Research topics span a broad range of contemporary issues, including artificial intelligence and peacebuilding, climate change and environmental security, migration and displacement, conflict prevention, governance, public health, digital misinformation, critical minerals, gender and identity, and post-conflict reconstruction.

Successful applicants will be notified during spring 2027, with fellowships commencing in July 2027.