Leading House Africa
Swiss TPH, supported by the University of Basel, is the Leading House for bilateral research collaboration with partner institutions in Africa. Mandated by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) in 2017, the Leading House Basel promotes and fosters scientific cooperation with key institutions in Africa for the funding period 2021-2024.
The funding instruments within the programme are open to researchers of all Swiss universities, universities of applied sciences and public research institutes.
Main Priorities
- To improve mutual knowledge and make Switzerland better known as a prime location for education, research and innovation (ERI), by improving circulation of talents and direct cooperation between institutions.
- To support efforts by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), upon request, to strengthen its collaboration with similar partner agencies, particularly the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF), the “Fonds pour la Science, la Technologie et l'Innovation” (FONSTI) in Côte d’Ivoire and the Technology and Innovation Agency (TIA) in South Africa among others.
- To increase collaboration in the field of innovation through new or existing instruments, as a way to develop the capacities of Swiss and African ERI stakeholders and support entrepreneurship and develop instruments aiming at innovation and explore options with industry partners.
Grantee Stories
WASH standards are often inadequate in rural areas of Limpopo. Water sources are contaminated making them a major source for the spread of diseases. Gravity membrane technology (GDM) purifies contaminated water cost-effectively and without the need for backwashing with chemicals or energy inputs. With the help of the Leading House Region Africa Seed Fund 2020, the University of Applied Sciences Eastern Switzerland OST has developed a compact, solar-powered water filtration system and strengthened collaboration and exchange of knowledge with local institutions and partners. Read more about this and previous grantees
Awarded Projects
Closed Calls
All closed callsResearch Partnership Grant I (November 2023)
Research Partnership Grant II (December 2023)
Research Partnership Grant II (July 2023)
DSI-NRF-Swiss Bilateral Research Chair in Blockchain Technology
PhD Graduate Programme: Call for Seasonal Schools in Switzerland to sponsor African participants
Leading House Region Africa – Seed Funding 2020
Swiss Subsaharan Africa Migration (S_SAM): Spring Call 2019
Nairobi/Switzerland Business Development Program