CAS Fellowships

The Center directly administers several fellowships for graduate students and one for undergraduates. There is also an undergraduate award and we have a seed grant program for faculty.

CAS Fellowship and Award Deadlines for 2026:

Graduate (UC Berkeley students only):

  • Rocca Pre-Dissertation: Monday, 1st February, 2027
  • Rocca Dissertation Fellowships:  Monday, 1st February, 2027

Undergraduate (UC Berkeley students only):

  • Geist and Rosberg Fellowship Application:  Friday, 19th February, 2027
  • Award for Best Undergraduate Thesis in African Studies: Friday, 14 May

Faculty:

  • Mastercard Foundation Faculty Seed Grant Program: Friday, March 19

Center for African Studies Visiting Fellowships

The Center for African Studies, with the support of the Mastercard Foundation, provides two Visiting Fellowships for Africa-based researchers to be hosted at the University of California, Berkeley. The purpose of the Fellowship is to provide Fellows with

Award for Best Undergraduate Thesis in African Studies

A prize of $250 will be awarded to the best senior thesis written by a UC Berkeley undergraduate on a topic related to Africa. The thesis can be written in any discipline or major. Applicants must submit an online application form, along with submitting a copy of the paper or thesis and a letter of recommendation from a faculty advisor to asc@berkeley.edu.

Geist and Rosberg Undergraduate Research Grants

Fellowships of up to $3,000 are awarded as a memorial to Carl Rosberg, founder of Berkeley's Center for African Studies and a pioneer in the study of African politics, and Judith Geist, who earned a PhD from Berkeley's Political Science Department and followed in Rosberg's footsteps with her work in East Africa.

Rocca Pre-dissertation Research

Fellowships of up to $4,000 are offered to support preliminary research fieldwork for PhD graduate students who intend to return to the Berkeley campus and prepare dissertation research proposals on topics relevant to African Studies.

Rocca Dissertation Research

Fellowships of up to $10,000 are offered to support student scholars at the advanced graduate level concentrating in African Studies.

Mastercard Foundation Faculty Seed Grant Program

The UC Berkeley Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Seed Grant will provide two seed grants each year of up to $10,000 to promote cross-partner collaborations and capacity building efforts with African institutions that align with the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategic plan.

Other CAS Fellowships

Africa Research Travel Grant (inactive currently)

Africa Research Travel Grant (Graduate Students Only) The Center for African Studies has received a grant to support travel to Africa countries for research. With these grant funds, we are pleased to offer a few small grants awards ($500 - $2500) to help cover costs for graduate student research travel to Africa. *To access this CAS application form, you first must be logged into a browser with a CalNet ID. Application (link)