Since its inception in 2008, CARTA has been dedicated to strengthening the capacity of African universities to generate impactful research. By supporting African researchers within its African partner institutions and strengthening the institutional systems and processes related to research training and management, CARTA ensures that universities become self-sustainable engines of knowledge generation and innovation. This commitment extends across multiple levels, from research capacity strengthening to faculty development, supervision enhancement, governance, and financial management improvements.

One of CARTA’s most transformative initiatives is its PhD training program, the Joint Advanced Seminars (JASes), which has become a gold standard in doctoral training. The program operates by selecting fellows who are staff at partner institutions, equipping them to drive research excellence and institutional transformation. The impact is substantial: to date, 245 fellows have been enrolled with 181 fellows graduating (as of the end of 2024), with many of them leading influential initiatives in their home countries. Beyond supporting them during the PhD journey, CARTA provides postdoctoral opportunities to its graduates facilitating their transition into independent researchers and leaders. Cumulatively, the program has granted 84 awards (postdoctoral fellowships and re-entry grants) to 64 graduates.

CARTA’s mission extends beyond training individuals – it is about transforming institutions to sustain research excellence. The program strengthens universities by providing structured support for academic, professional, and administrative staff, supervision training, and associated training-of-trainers (ToT) programs. The ToTs are part of CARTA’s sustainability efforts, which include mainstreaming the CARTA interventions and best practices at partner institutions.

Additionally, CARTA collaborates with its African partners to support their assessment and implementation of Good Financial Grant Practice (GFGP) standards, ensuring best practices in financial and grant management. These initiatives create a ripple effect of knowledge-sharing across institutions, ensuring long-term sustainability.

Another milestone is the establishment of research hubs, which serve as centers of excellence to support multidisciplinary research and collaboration. In 2024, the first hubs were launched at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and Makerere University, Uganda. These hubs provide early career researchers and CARTA graduates with the resources, mentorship, and environments needed to thrive. Charles Kato, a CARTA cohort 3 graduate, leads one of the hubs, the Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases (TERID) Hub at Makerere.

CARTA research hubs are more than just projects—they are platforms for multidisciplinary innovation, enabling researchers to address thematic challenges of critical importance to Africa’s development. By fostering collaboration among CARTA fellows and connecting them to global networks, these hubs nurture ecosystems where ideas flourish, and solutions are born.

At the forefront of Africa’s academic transformation, CARTA is reimagining how universities train and support researchers. More than just a capacity-building initiative, CARTA represents a bold and innovative approach to developing sustainable research ecosystems. By combining institutional support, interdisciplinary collaboration, and advanced training, CARTA is not only shaping individual scholars but also empowering universities to become world-class research and leadership centers.

This article is originally published by the African Population and Health Research Center (website)