Call for Applications

Closing date: 31 January 2026

In loving memory of Professor Harry Garuba, the Faculty of Humanities is pleased to introduce, for 2026, a special, one-time suite of 15 scholarships and fellowships, spanning Honours to postdoctoral levels, designed to support and enhance quality research across its diverse disciplines. 

Professor Harry Garuba was an internationally celebrated writer, poet, and scholar whose brilliance illuminated the field of African literature and postcolonial thought. A visionary committed to decolonizing knowledge and reimagining the study of Africa, he left an enduring legacy within the university and beyond. As Director of the School of African and Gender Studies, Anthropology and Linguistics, and later as Acting Dean of the Faculty, Professor Garuba led with rare wisdom, compassion, and intellectual courage. His leadership embodied a deep commitment to fostering a truly transformed university – one grounded in African identity and humanistic inquiry. Renowned for his warmth, generosity, and devotion to his students, Professor Garuba inspired generations of thinkers to pursue critical and creative scholarship. The Harry Garuba Scholarships and Fellowships in Critical Humanities stands as a tribute to his extraordinary life, his enduring scholarship, and his transformative contributions to the humanities. 

These fellowships aim to provide targeted financial and academic resources enabling exceptional postgraduate students from diverse backgrounds to pursue research projects that are methodologically innovative, empirically rigorous and conceptually compelling. 

Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for:

6 One-year Honours Scholarships @ 180,000.

4 Two-year Research Master’s Scholarships @ 240,000 p.a.

3 Three-year PhD Scholarships @ 300,000 p.a.

2 One-year Postdoctoral Fellowships @ 350,000.

Please note:

  1. All scholarships are conditional on awardees registering for and maintaining full-time enrolment in the relevant postgraduate programmes in the Faculty of Humanities, University of Cape Town.

  2. The award may not be held concurrently with any other scholarship, fellowship, award, bursary, stipend or salary. remuneration for tutoring in a Humanities department is exempted.

  3. An awardee must commence and utilise the scholarship in the year(s) for which the scholarship has been offered. Commencement of scholarships cannot be deferred to a following year.

  4. Research projects supported by these scholarships/ fellowships are not expected to change significantly during the duration of the award, i.e., from the research project specified in the application and for which the scholarship is awarded. Any such changes must be communicated with and agreed by the Faculty, before implementation thereof. 

  5. All awardees will be required to submit detailed reports of academic progress at the end of every semester with signed comments by supervisors/ mentors, upon the approval of which the amount of scholarship for the next semester will be released.

  6. All awardees will be required to present their work at the Faculty’s annual research events.

  7. All Honours awardees are encouraged to, and all Research Master’s awardees are required to, provide proof of submission of at least one single-authored article in peer-reviewed publications in DHET-accredited journals within six months of the submission of their thesis. All PhD awardees are required to provide proof of submission of at least one single-authored article in peer-reviewed publications in DHET-accredited journals in either year two or year three of the fellowship. All Postdoctoral awardees are required to provide proof of submission of at least one single-authored article in peer-reviewed publications in DHET-accredited journals in the year of the fellowship.

  8. All awardees must acknowledge the contribution of the source of funding when, at any time during or after completion of the programme, they produce or publish materials such as dissertations, books, articles, conference presentations, exhibitions, films, podcasts, videos, or other digital, printed and artistic works which relate to the research project for which the scholarship/ fellowship has been awarded.

  9. Awardees are expected to reside in Cape Town throughout the duration of their awards, and to seek approval from the Faculty in writing in advance for any local or overseas travel or research trip extending over two weeks.

  10. The awards may be terminated at any time for reasons of unsatisfactory conduct, progress, or attendance, or if an awardee’s registration is suspended or terminated by the University for any reason.

  11. The awardees will be required to return to the Faculty the full amount of scholarship disbursed if any of the above conditions are not met, and/or if the degree for which the scholarship has been awarded is not completed.

  12. All terms and conditions are subject to compliance with relevant policies, procedures and practices at the University of Cape Town.

Application Procedure: 

Suitable candidates are required to email the following documents in a single PDF by 31 January 2026 to hum-dean@uct.ac.za with the subject-header “Application for Garuba Fellowship.”

  • Application Form

  • A letter of motivation from the scholar of no more than 2 single-spaced pages.

  • A research proposal appropriate to the programme of study.

  • One single-authored, original writing sample of no more than 4000 words.

  • A complete and up-to-date curriculum vitae.

  • Recommendation letters from two academic referees, including one from the (current or prospective) supervisor/ mentor presently based at a Humanities department in UCT.

  • Full transcripts of academic record and copies of all degree certificates.

  • Copy of ID document (or copies of passport and study visa in the case of foreign applicants).

  • If applicable, documents demonstrating financial need.

All applications will be evaluated by an interdisciplinary committee constituted for this purpose, including the Dean, the Deputy Dean of Postgraduate Studies and Funding, and the Deputy Dean of Research and Internationalisation. The committee will weigh the quality, innovativeness, and scholarly merit of the proposed research with equal regard to equity, diversity, demonstrated financial need and inclusion, aiming to ensure that awards are fairly represented across different disciplines. The academic units are advised to coordinate their recommendations internally.

For more information, please feel free to contact: bodhisattva.kar@uct.ac.za