NRF Opens Nominations for the 2026 NRF Awards

The National Research Foundation (NRF) is delighted to announce that nominations for the 2026 NRF Awards are now officially open, paving the way for the recognition of researchers whose work has made a significant impact on South Africa over the past year or over the course of their careers. Nominations close on 15 June 2026.

Eligible for nomination are emerging researchers who stand head and shoulders above their peers; researchers who have made a meaningful contribution to South Africa’s research environment and/or to the development of the next generation of researchers; and individuals who have made an extraordinary contribution to the advancement of science in and for South Africa over an extended period.

Held annually, the NRF Awards recognise outstanding achievements by individual researchers and teams whose excellence has significantly advanced science for the benefit of society. Their internationally competitive work is assessed on, among other criteria, its contribution to the field of study, with a particular focus on quality and impact. One of the objectives of the awards is to foster a sustained culture of advancing South Africa’s scientific knowledge and technological innovation by recognising those who use research to improve humanity.

The awards are presented to researchers who have obtained new A and P ratings in the year of the awards, and to winners in the following categories aligned with Transformation, Innovation, and Excellence for Impact (TIES4I):

• Lifetime Achievement Award—This accolade is awarded to individuals considered to have made extraordinary contributions, of international standard and impact, to the development of science in and for South Africa over an extended period of time, and for the manner in which their work has touched and shaped the lives and views of many South Africans.
• Public Engagement with Research Award—This award recognises outstanding contributions to public engagement with science and encourages academics to make their work, and science and technology in general, more accessible to the public.
• Hamilton Naki Award—The Hamilton Naki Award honours individuals for advancing their careers in science and achieving world-class research performance despite considerable challenges. The award is named after Hamilton Naki, a self-taught surgeon who trained generations of medical students in surgical techniques.
• Research Excellence Award for Next Generation Researchers—This award recognises outstanding academic performance by final-year Doctoral students.
• Research Excellence Award for Early Career/Emerging Researchers—This award recognises outstanding research performance by current early career/emerging researchers in any discipline, who are NRF grant holders.
• Champion of Research Capacity Development and Transformation Award —This category recognises individuals within the research community who contribute to the transformation, and thus diversity, of South Africa’s science cohort through the research students they supervise.
• Science Team Award—In recognition of the contributions, creativity and achievements of a science team towards extending the boundaries of scientific research in Africa, producing science outcomes which have positively impacted society and for the role they played in raising South Africa’s international stature as a world-class research destination.
• Societal Impact Award—In recognition of research with impact that has resulted in improvement in the quality of people’s lives.

The 2026 NRF Awards ceremony is scheduled for September 2026. Further details are available here