The Global Mental Health Africa Conference 2027 (GMHAC2027) Travel Fellowship provides financial support for selected participants to attend the Global Mental Health Africa Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, from 8–10 February 2027. The conference is convened by the Science for Africa Foundation (SFA Foundation) in partnership with the Mental Health Innovation Network (MHIN) and with support from Wellcome.
Held under the theme “Together for Mental Health: African Leadership, Global Impact,” GMHAC2027 will showcase African-led mental health research, innovation and locally driven solutions. The conference will bring together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, innovators, funders, advocates and people with lived experience to strengthen collaboration and advance mental health systems across Africa.
The fellowship is part of the broader effort to ensure that African voices and perspectives are represented at the conference. GMHAC2027 will provide opportunities for knowledge exchange, networking, mentorship, collaboration and engagement between research, policy and practice.
The conference program is organized around four major thematic tracks: Expanding Access to Quality Mental Health Care; Leadership, Power, and Lived Experience in Mental Health; Policy, Financing, and Global Advocacy for Systems Change; and Innovations and Frontiers in African Mental Health Research.
Benefits
The principal benefit of the GMHAC2027 Travel Fellowship is financial support to enable selected fellows to attend the conference in Nairobi.
Fellows will also benefit from:
- Participation in the Global Mental Health Africa Conference 2027.
- Exposure to African-led mental health research and innovation.
- Networking with researchers, practitioners, policymakers, funders, innovators and advocates.
- Opportunities for knowledge sharing and South-to-South learning.
- Access to discussions connecting mental health research with policy and practice.
- Opportunities to develop professional and research collaborations.
- Engagement with people with lived experience and other stakeholders shaping African mental health systems.
The official announcement describes the fellowships as supporting attendance at GMHAC2027; it does not currently publish a fixed monetary value or a detailed itemized list of expenses covered. Therefore, applicants should not assume that the fellowship covers every travel or accommodation expense unless this is confirmed by the organizers.
Eligibility Criteria
The official announcement identifies the following groups as eligible for the available travel fellowships:
- Early-career researchers working in mental health.
- Students with an interest or involvement in mental health.
- People with lived experience of mental health conditions or related experiences.
The wider conference itself welcomes a much broader group of participants, including researchers, academics, practitioners, policymakers, people with lived experience, civil society organizations, community leaders, development partners and private-sector actors.
Applicants should demonstrate a meaningful connection to mental health research, practice, advocacy, lived experience or related work. The official travel-fellowship announcement does not state a universal age limit or require applicants to hold a particular academic qualification.
Application Process and Documents Required
Applications for the GMHAC2027 Travel Fellowship are submitted through the official conference application process. The official announcement states that applications opened on 20 June 2026 and close on 31 August 2026.
Applicants should provide the information requested in the fellowship application, demonstrating their eligibility and explaining why attending GMHAC2027 would be relevant to their work, studies, research or lived-experience advocacy.
The organizers have not published a comprehensive separate document checklist in the publicly available announcement. Applicants should therefore follow the requirements displayed in the official application form and avoid submitting documents that are not requested.
Applicants interested in presenting their work should note that the conference has a separate call for abstracts. Abstract submissions are open to researchers, practitioners, policymakers, people with lived experience and other stakeholders, with submissions limited to 300 words and aligned with the conference themes. The abstract deadline is 20 August 2026, which is separate from the travel-fellowship deadline.
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