SARA Bursary Programme

SARA’s Bursary Scheme was introduced in 2007 with the objective to further promote and develop the reward profession and practices. The scheme provides financial assistance to SARA members that wish to complete their Master’s or Doctorate degrees. Two to three bursaries are awarded annually to the most promising research proposals. The completed research material is published on SARA’s website for the benefit of all members and the general profession.

The selection criteria for the SARA Bursary are as follows: 

  • Applications are open to both South African and non-South African residents;
  • The applicant must be a paid-up member of SARA;
  • The applicant needs to have an Honours/PDM for a Masters application or a Masters for a Doctorate application;
  • Applicants should already be registered with an approved institution with formal acceptance of their research proposal. The Bursary is primarily aimed at those whose studies will contribute to promoting and developing the reward profession in Africa;
  • The primary research question should be within the ambit of reward management, or HR Management with a focus on reward management. Therefore, the research topic should be relevant to the reward environment and build on the existing base of knowledge and methodologies; and
  • The candidate should be committed to continuing to invest in total rewards as a profession.

Planned research must be completed within three years from receiving the bursary. The bursary recipient is required to provide formal feedback (in the form of an event presentation) to the SARA membership, and a copy of the research document must be made available to SARA for inclusion in its existing body of research.  Please click here for research topic ideas.

SARA is under no obligation to grant the bursary. The SARA Executive Committee must agree that each application significantly contributes to the discipline of Total Reward management within Africa and the final decision is at the discretion of the Executive Committee.  

Bursary Application Form  

The application form needs to be completed and forwarded to the SARA Secretariat at cynthia@vdw.co.za with a copy of the approved research proposal submitted to the university.