Strengthening research capacity in Cameroon: qualitative insights on the impact of mentorship, training and funding on receiving seed grants

Introduction: Enhancing research capacity in low-resource settings is crucial for informed policy-making and public health advancement. This study explores the experiences of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) researchers in Cameroon who received seed research grants, focusing on their motivations, challenges and anticipated impact. Methods: A qualitative study design using a phenomenological approach with thematic analysis was employed to understand and interpret the early lived experiences of the researchers. We conducted in-depth, semistructured interviews with physicians, obstetrics and gynaecology residents, and nurse midwives (n=16) involved in a 2-year research training programme who developed competitive proposals and received seed grant funding in April 2024. Interviews were conducted in September and October 2024 after receiving grant funding and before starting data collection. Results: The study identified three main themes: roles of mentorship and training as catalysts for anticipated research success, challenges faced and strategies used to overcome them, and impact of grant funding on research scope and professional development. Mentorship and the structured training programmes equipped researchers with essential skills for grant applications and anticipated project execution. Despite challenges such as tight deadlines, financial limitations and ethical clearance hurdles, researchers demonstrated resilience and employed adaptive strategies. Grant funding expanded their research scope, enabled exploration of new methodologies and facilitated the proposal of community-centred studies addressing public health issues. Conclusions: These findings highlight that targeted investment in mentorship, training and grant support is important for strengthening research capacity and enabling researchers to address priority public health and SRHR issues in Cameroon. Strengthening these foundational elements may help drive sustainable improvements in public health research and policy in Cameroon and other low-resource settings.