The SOLTRAIN (Southern African Solar Thermal Training and Demonstration Initiative) has opened its 2026 academic year postgraduate Bursary application. All interested candidates should the procedures to apply Now.

Closing Date:16 February 2026

SOLTRAIN (Southern African Solar Thermal Training and Demonstration Initiative) was formed in 2009 as a regional program on capacity building and demonstration of solar thermal systems in the SADC region.

BURSARY REQUIREMENTS:

To qualify for this bursary application, you must align with the following requirements. That is:

• You must be a South African citizen OR a citizen of one of these countries: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho or Mozambique
• You must be registered for Postgraduate studies, for the first half of the 2026 academic year
• You must be pursuing studies towards a topic of solar thermal energy (the following topics will be given preference):
  • Potential analysis for solar thermal systems within the health sector, in South Africa and Mozambique (including: survey of hospitals and clinics in the country and number of beds and monthly average number of patients; calculation of hot water used in hospitals and clinics; and derivation of potential for thermal solar systems for the health sector in these countries)
  • Potential analyses for solar thermal systems at educational or social institutions (including: calculation of hot water used and derivation of potential for solar thermal systems for the specific applications; and calculation of potential electricity savings)
  • Potential analyses of solar thermal systems within the tourism sector (including: definition of important tourism regions; survey of beds and average amount of tourists in the regions; calculation of hot water used; derivation of potential for solar thermal systems in the tourism sector)
  • Analysis of measurement data from selected systems from the SOLTRAIN project (measurement data will be provided by SOLTRAIN; analysis of measured data with economic and/or technical input)
  • Topics related to the use of solar thermal technologies for industrial applications (heating/ drying/ cooling)
  • Documentation and analysis of mass housing programmes in Namibia and South Africa, with mandatory installation of solar water heaters (including: documentation of the programme – location, amount of houses, number and size of installed Solar Water Heaters; questionnaire based interviews with a large number of users on the satisfaction with the Solar Water Heater; lessons learned; potential mass housing programmes for this survey: Namibia – NHE houses, OSONA village project / South Africa: 1 million solar water heater programme; student abstracts from previous year)

BURSARY COVERAGE:

SOLTRAIN is inviting students to apply for the SOLTRAIN Solar Thermal Project Support Scheme for Postgraduate Students, for studies within the first half of the 2026 academic year.

Students who are from one of SOLTRAIN partner countries (which include: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Mozambique), pursuing studies within the solar thermal energy area may apply.

The value of the bursary is a maximum of €2500 Euro (equivalent to over R43 000 South African Rand).

METHOD OF APPLICATION:

All Applicants must apply online at SOLTRAIN Postgraduate Bursary Application 2026

Supporting Documents

The following supporting documentation must be submitted along with your online application (the submission of these documents is compulsory – if any items are missing, your application may be disqualified):

• ID document for proof of citizenship (certified copy)
• Details about your solar thermal project (in 300 to 600 words)
• Motivational letter explaining why you should receive the bursary (in 300 to 600 words)
• Estimated budget for your funding request (up to a maximum of 2500 Euro)
• Proof of tertiary registration for the 2026 academic year (on institutions letterhead)
• Full academic transcript/ record to date (on institutions letterhead)
• Letter of support from a supervisor