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3. Funder–Activity Alignment Matrices

Updated

2025-01-08

1. Strategic Activity Areas (A–F)

A. Postgraduate training (MSc & PhD) – programmes, courses, supervision, curriculum development
B. Research collaboration – joint research, thematic programmes, workshops, networks
C. Mobility & exchanges – student, early-career and staff mobility; visits and fellowships
D. Infrastructure & resources – computational tools, HPC, library access, shared resources
E. Outreach, society & industry engagement – mathematics–society interfaces, industry links, public engagement
F. Coordination, governance & network development – coordination, management, strategic development
⁠

2. Funder–Activity Alignment Matrix

How to read this matrix
Each row summarises how a specific funder or instrument aligns with CoRE-Math’s six strategic activity areas (A–F). Each column can also be read vertically to identify which funding systems are structurally relevant for a given activity area. Clusters of ● and ◐ indicate areas of strong or partial structural alignment; columns dominated by ○ or — indicate structurally underfunded or weakly supported activity domains.
Category
Funder
Priority
A
B
C
D
E
F
Preparation status
Funder logic note
Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA)
Key regional coordination and quality-assurance actor.
National Research Foundation of South Africa
Strong national research funder; regional role possible but not core.
Oppenheimer Memorial Trust
Well aligned with postgraduate training, mainly Southern Africa.
Science for Africa Foundation
Research-led African funder with growing interest in networks and systems.
COST Actions
Networking and coordination only; no core research funding.
Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters
Long-horizon, speculative fit for CoRE-Math.
Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE)
Core system-level training and governance instrument.
Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme (IAAMS)
Strong structured mobility scheme; weak on research.
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Individual mobility and research stays.
Mastercard Foundation
Education-focused, Africa-centric; needs skills/inclusion framing.
Schmidt Futures
Potential future fit after flagship activities.
Siemens Stiftung
Strong thematic alignment required; mathematics instrumental.
Simons Foundation
Core disciplinary research funder.
Volkswagen Foundation
Experimental, call-dependent formats.
XTX Markets
Mathematics with skills/societal relevance.
DAAD – German Academic Exchange Service
Public academic-cooperation funder; fits doctoral pipelines and institutional capacity building, but not cluster-level core funding.
International Basic Sciences Programme (IBSP)
Convening and basic-science capacity building.
International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Research-for-development with systems logic.
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Programme-based development funding.
Norad (NORHED / successor)
HE and capacity building via NORHED-type programmes.
NWO-WOTRO (and successors)
Applied/interdisciplinary development research.
VLIR-UOS / ARES
Institutional capacity building via bilateral logic.
CIMPA
Core support for schools and collaboration.
CIRM
Venue-based research meetings.
EMS–CDC
Small grants; symbolic rather than structural.
ICMS
Research-led programmes and workshops.
ICTP
Training and thematic research programmes.
IMU-CDC
Fellowships and small-scale capacity building.
London Mathematical Society
Narrow, targeted schemes.
There are no rows in this table
⁠
Cross-cutting patterns that are visible in the matrix
Postgraduate training (A), research collaboration (B), and mobility (C) are structurally supported across multiple funding systems.
Shared infrastructure and resources (D) is weakly supported across almost all systems.
Outreach and interfaces (E) are supported primarily by foundations and specialist actors.
Coordination and network development (F) depend disproportionately on EU and public development instruments.

⁠

3. Tiered Activity–Funder Alignment Matrix

How to read this matrix

This matrix reorganises the same alignment assessments by activity area rather than by funder. Each row shows, for a given CoRE-Math activity area (A–F), which funders fall into the ● (core), ◐ (partial), and ○ (peripheral) relevance tiers. It is a derived, synthetic view that makes visible the structural support, concentrations, and gaps across the funding landscape.
The tiered matrix does not introduce new assessments; it is a reorganisation of the detailed matrix intended to surface structural patterns by activity area.

Interpretation of relevance tiers

The symbols used in the alignment matrices indicate how a given funder can realistically relate to a specific CoRE-Math activity area.
● Core fit: The activity area can be the main focus of a CoRE-Math funding initiative with this funder.
◐ Partial fit: The activity area can be supported as part of a broader programme or project, but not as a stand-alone focus.
○ Peripheral fit: The activity area may be supported only in a limited or incidental way.
Activity area
● Structural funders
◐ Conditional funders
○ Marginal / opportunistic
A. Postgraduate training (MSc & PhD)
Erasmus+ CBHE; Norad (NORHED / successors); VLIR-UOS / ARES; CIMPA; ICTP
IUCEA; NRF South Africa; Science for Africa Foundation; IAAMS; Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; Schmidt Futures; Siemens Stiftung; Simons Foundation; Volkswagen Foundation; XTX Markets; DAAD; UNESCO-IBSP; IDRC; MFA Finland; NWO-WOTRO successors; IMU-CDC; EMS-CDC; LMS
Erasmus Mundus; COST; Oppenheimer Memorial Trust; Mastercard Foundation; CIRM
B. Research collaboration
NRF South Africa; Science for Africa Foundation; COST Actions; Simons Foundation; XTX Markets; IDRC; NWO-WOTRO successors; CIMPA; CIRM; ICMS; ICTP
IUCEA; Oppenheimer Memorial Trust; Erasmus+ CBHE; IAAMS; Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; Schmidt Futures; Siemens Stiftung; Volkswagen Foundation; UNESCO-IBSP; Norad; MFA Finland; VLIR-UOS / ARES; IMU-CDC; EMS-CDC; LMS
Erasmus Mundus; Mastercard Foundation; DAAD
C. Mobility & exchanges
IAAMS; Erasmus+ CBHE; VLIR-UOS / ARES; Norad; IDRC; DAAD; Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; IMU-CDC; ICTP
Science for Africa Foundation; NRF South Africa; Oppenheimer Memorial Trust; COST Actions; Simons Foundation; Volkswagen Foundation; Schmidt Futures; Siemens Stiftung; XTX Markets; UNESCO-IBSP; MFA Finland; NWO-WOTRO successors; EMS-CDC; LMS
Erasmus Mundus; Mastercard Foundation; CIMPA; CIRM; ICMS
D. Infrastructure & resources
— (none)
Science for Africa Foundation; Siemens Stiftung; IDRC; Norad; MFA Finland; UNESCO-IBSP
EU instruments (CBHE, IAAMS, COST, Erasmus Mundus); IUCEA; NRF South Africa; Oppenheimer Memorial Trust; Simons Foundation; Mastercard Foundation; Volkswagen Foundation; Schmidt Futures; XTX Markets; Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; VLIR-UOS / ARES; NWO-WOTRO successors; CIMPA; ICTP; ICMS; CIRM; EMS-CDC; IMU-CDC; LMS
E. Outreach, society & industry
Mastercard Foundation; Siemens Stiftung; XTX Markets
IUCEA; Science for Africa Foundation; COST Actions; Erasmus+ CBHE; Simons Foundation; Volkswagen Foundation; Schmidt Futures; UNESCO-IBSP; IDRC; Norad; MFA Finland; VLIR-UOS / ARES; IMU-CDC
NRF South Africa; Oppenheimer Memorial Trust; IAAMS; Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; DAAD; NWO-WOTRO successors; CIMPA; CIRM; EMS-CDC; ICMS; ICTP; LMS
F. Coordination, governance & network development
Erasmus+ CBHE; IUCEA; ICMS; ICTP
Science for Africa Foundation; COST Actions; IAAMS; Simons Foundation; Volkswagen Foundation; Siemens Stiftung; XTX Markets; UNESCO-IBSP; IDRC; Norad; MFA Finland; VLIR-UOS / ARES; IMU-CDC
NRF South Africa; Oppenheimer Memorial Trust; Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; Mastercard Foundation; Schmidt Futures; NWO-WOTRO successors; CIMPA; CIRM; EMS-CDC; LMS
There are no rows in this table
⁠

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