Funders require an institution. If you do not have one, HRnet can be yours — hosting your grant, managing the funds, and standing behind your science.
Researchers around the world can see strong work stall before it reaches a funder — not because the science is weak, but because of a form they cannot complete. Almost every research funder requires an eligible host institution: one with legal status, a bank account, financial controls, and the capacity to account for how money is spent.
A clinician in a district hospital does not have one. Neither does a recent doctoral graduate between posts, an independent consultant, or a researcher in the diaspora working on questions that matter at home.
HRnet is a registered non-profit organisation in Cameroon, authorised to receive and manage research funding from national and international sources. Under Research Home, we place that status at the disposal of researchers who have none.
We hold the grant, manage the funds, and report to the funder. You keep the science.
Clinicians and public health practitioners with no research office behind them
Early-career researchers between institutional posts
Independent researchers and consultants
Researchers and academics worldwide, with preference given to African researchers and those with expertise in Central Africa
Small teams and consortia without an eligible lead institution
Applicants previously ruled ineligible for want of a host
HRnet's name goes on every proposal we host, which means we read every proposal we host. Before we agree to act as your institution, your project is assessed by the HRnet Scientific Review Panel.
Any project involving human participants must hold approval from a recognised ethics committee before fieldwork funds are released. In Cameroon this means CNERSH; elsewhere, the competent national committee.
The review is a condition of hosting, not a service you buy. A project that does not pass is not hosted, and the dossier fee is not returned. Paying HRnet does not purchase acceptance.
They differ in one respect only: how much of HRnet you need. All three give you an institution that funders recognise.
For researchers whose proposal is written and who need an eligible institution to submit it.
Nothing further. HRnet's institutional overhead is written into the grant budget and paid by the funder, not by you.
Institutions and OECD-based applicants pay a dossier fee of XAF 100,000.
For researchers with a strong idea that is not yet a fundable proposal.
You write the proposal. We make it stronger. The work is yours and the authorship is yours.
Flat, agreed in writing before work begins. Half on engagement, half on submission.
We never charge a percentage of your grant, and we never charge only if you win. Success fees are prohibited practice and we will not offer them.
For researchers who want a lasting institutional home rather than a single project.
Associates based outside Africa pay XAF 90,000 per year. Departments and units may affiliate as institutions.
Senior researchers may be invited to join as Associate Emeritus, without charge.
Researchers are often confused on this point, and the confusion keeps people away. Here it is without ambiguity.
The dossier fee when you apply. The development fee, if you choose proposal support. The annual fee, if you become an Associate.
These are paid from your own resources, before any grant exists, and they are not refundable if the grant is unsuccessful. They pay for professional time already spent on your work.
HRnet's institutional overhead — up to 15% of direct project costs, or the maximum the funder permits, whichever is lower. It is written into the grant budget as an indirect cost.
It never comes out of your pocket, and it never comes out of your project's direct costs. It pays for the accounting, compliance, reporting, and audit readiness that hosting requires.
We publish our fees because a research organisation that charges researchers owes them clarity. Every amount below is fixed in advance and stated in your agreement before work begins. Amounts are in CFA francs; dollar equivalents are indicative.
| Applicant | Fee | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Individual researcher based in Africa | XAF 25,000 ≈ USD 40 | Scientific and ethical review of your project by the Panel |
| Institution, international NGO, or applicant based outside Africa | XAF 100,000 ≈ USD 165 | The same review, at full cost |
| HRnet training cohort alumni, first application | Waived | — |
| Size of grant sought | Standard fee | Individual researcher based in Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Below XAF 30 million ≈ under USD 50,000 | XAF 250,000 ≈ USD 415 | XAF 125,000 ≈ USD 210 |
| XAF 30–180 million ≈ USD 50,000–300,000 | XAF 600,000 ≈ USD 1,000 | XAF 300,000 ≈ USD 500 |
| Above XAF 180 million ≈ over USD 300,000 | XAF 1,500,000 ≈ USD 2,500 | By agreement, from XAF 750,000 |
| Category | Fee per year |
|---|---|
| Research Associate, based in Africa | XAF 30,000 ≈ USD 50 |
| Research Associate, based outside Africa | XAF 90,000 ≈ USD 150 |
| Institutional Associate (a department or unit) | XAF 500,000 ≈ USD 830 |
| Associate Emeritus, by invitation | No charge |
| HRnet training cohort alumni | First year free |
HRnet exists to open the funding system to African researchers, and a fee that closes it again would defeat the purpose. Our paying users subsidise those who cannot pay. This is deliberate, and it is written into how we are financed.
Fees are reviewed annually. Those quoted apply to applications received in the current programme year.
Send an expression of interest. It costs nothing, and it takes a page.
A one-page summary: the question, the setting, roughly what it will cost, and the funder you have in mind. No formatting requirements.
We tell you whether the project is a plausible fit, which of the three routes suits you, and what it would cost. Only then do you pay anything.
You submit the full dossier and the fee. The Panel reviews it. If it passes, we sign a hosting agreement and go to the funder together.
Write to secretariat@hrnet-africa.org — in French or in English.