VerifiedPostgraduate funding in South Africa does not work like undergraduate funding. There is no NSFAS equivalent, most awards are competitive rather than needs-based, and one funder is so much larger than the rest that understanding its rules matters more than reading any list.
For the list itself, see our postgraduate bursaries page, which carries more than fifty funders. This page explains how the money actually works.
The NRF is most of the money
The National Research Foundation, funded by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, is the single largest source of postgraduate funding in the country. Its rules disqualify a large number of applicants before they apply, and almost nobody tells them in advance.
| Rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| Age limits | You must be 28 or younger for honours, 30 or younger for a master’s and 32 or younger for a doctorate, in the year you apply. This is the rule that catches career changers and anyone who took time out. |
| 65% minimum | The minimum academic requirement is 65%, and for doctoral funding that means 65% at master’s level. |
| 80 / 20 split | About 80% of funded students come from science, engineering and technology and 20% from the social sciences and humanities. Humanities applicants are competing for a fifth of the money. |
| Full or partial cost | Awards are made at Full Cost of Study or Partial Cost of Study. Full Cost goes only to South African citizens and permanent residents who are financially needy, living with a disability, or exceptional academic achievers. |
| NRF Connect only | Every application goes through the NRF Connect system. Manual applications are not accepted at all. |
Confirmed 23 September 2026 on the NRF postgraduate funding pages. The NRF publishes a separate call for each academic year, so check the call for the year you intend to register, not the current one.
Your own university is the second source
Faculty and departmental awards, merit scholarships and postgraduate assistantships are consistently the most under-applied funding in the country, because they are advertised on a departmental noticeboard rather than nationally. The applicant pool is one department.
Ask your postgraduate office and your intended supervisor directly, before you register. Ask three questions: what internal awards exist, whether the supervisor holds a research grant that can carry a student, and whether the department has teaching or tutoring posts for postgraduates.
Supervisor and project funding
A large share of master’s and doctoral students in the sciences are paid out of their supervisor’s research grant rather than by a bursary in their own name. It is not advertised anywhere. You get it by approaching a researcher whose project you want to join.
This is why choosing a supervisor before choosing a topic is good financial advice as well as good academic advice.
What the words mean
- Bursary. Usually covers fees, sometimes a stipend. Often carries a work-back obligation if it comes from an employer.
- Scholarship. Usually merit-based and usually without a work-back.
- Assistantship. Payment for teaching or tutoring work, not a grant. It takes time away from your research.
- Full Cost of Study. An NRF term meaning fees, accommodation and a living allowance. Partial Cost is a contribution only.
Check whether an award may be held together with another. The NRF and several other funders restrict this, and holding two awards that both forbid it is the kind of mistake that gets funding withdrawn after it has been spent.
Fields with their own postgraduate funders
Several fields have dedicated postgraduate money that never appears on a general list:
- Agriculture — the commodity organisations fund postgraduate research in their own industries.
- Data science and statistics — including a Reserve Bank scholarship for a master’s in data science and machine learning.
- Environmental science — SANBI, GreenMatter and the water sector.
- Veterinary science and medicine — the health SETAs and research councils.
- Economics — the treasuries and the Reserve Bank.
See also our postgraduate bursaries directory and university bursaries page.