Sustainable Development International Cooperation Program 2026 Project

Sustainable Development International Cooperation Program 2026 Project
可持续发展国际合作科学计划2026年度项目

April 3, 2026

The Official Announcement in Chinese

Sponsors:

National Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC)

Seven overseas research funding agencies

About:

In cooperation with international organizations and national research funding agencies, National Nature Science Foundation of China conducts joint funding to address key challenges to global sustainable development.

Funding Scale and Amount:

1. FAPESP (The São Paulo Research Foundation, Brazil):
   • Capacity Building Project: Approximately 10, no more than 600,000 RMB per project
   • Key Projects: Approximately 10, no more than 2,000,000 RMB per project
2. AEI (Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Spain):
   • Key Projects: Approximately 5, no more than 1,200,000 RMB per project
3. MFST (Mongolian Foundation for Science and Technology, Mongolia):
   • Key Projects: Approximately 6, no more than 1,500,000 RMB per project
   • Cooperation and Exchange Projects or Seminar Projects: Approximately 20, no more than 150,000 RMB per project
4. TSRI (Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research):
   • Capacity Building Project: Approximately 12, no more than 500,000 RMB per project
   • Cooperation and Exchange Projects or Seminar Projects: Approximately 20, no more than 150,000 RMB per project
5. UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme):
   • Key Projects: Approximately 5, no more than 1,800,000 RMB per project
   • Cooperation and Exchange Projects or Seminar Projects: Approximately 10, no more than 150,000 RMB per project
6. CGIAR(Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research):
   • Key Projects: Approximately 11, no more than 1,800,000 RMB per project
   • Cooperation and Exchange Projects or Seminar Projects: Approximately 10, no more than 150,000 RMB per project
7. IIASA (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis):
   • Capacity Building Project: 1, no more than 500,000 RMB per project
   • Cooperation and Exchange Projects or Seminar Projects: Approximately 7, no more than 150,000 RMB per project

Funding Areas:

For more information, please refer to the official announcement in Chinese

Funding Period:

• Capacity Building Project and Key Project: 3 years, from January 1, 2027, to December 31, 2029.
• Cooperation and Exchange Project: 2 years, from January 1, 2027, to December 31, 2028.
• Seminar Project: 1 week, from January 1, 2027, to December 31, 2027.

Eligibility:

• Capacity Building Projects and key Projects:
  1. Chinese applicants must hold a senior professional technical position (title) and have served or be serving as the Principal Investigator (PI) of a National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) project with a duration of at least three years.
  2. Foreign collaborators must meet the requirements of their respective funding agencies and international organizations (refer to specific program guidelines). The lead foreign collaborator (Foreign PI) must be listed as the first person in the "Overseas Collaborators" section of the Chinese application.
  3. A project may involve no more than two domestic collaborating institutions.
  4. These projects are excluded from the "two-project limit" for researchers with senior professional technical positions (titles).
  5. Applicants may apply for only one International (Regional) Joint Research project per year.
  6. The total number of International (Regional) Joint Research projects applied for (as applicant) and ongoing (as PI) is limited to one. Projects concluding in the current application year are excluded from this count.
  7. For further details on applicant eligibility, please refer to the 2026 National Natural Science Foundation of China Program Guide.
• Cooperation and Exchange Projects; Seminar Projects:
  1. Chinese applicants must be the Principal Investigator (PI) or a senior participant of an ongoing National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) project (excluding cooperation and exchange programs) with a duration of at least three years and a completion date on or after December 31, 2027.
  2. A senior participant of an ongoing project applying as the Chinese lead must hold a senior professional technical position (title) or a doctoral degree, or provide two recommendations from researchers in the same field with senior professional titles and obtain consent from the PI of the ongoing project.
  3. Foreign collaborators must meet the requirements of their respective funding agencies and international organizations (refer to specific program guidelines). The lead foreign collaborator (Foreign PI) must be listed as the first person in the "Overseas Collaborators" section of the Chinese application.
  4. These projects are excluded from the "two-project limit" for researchers with senior professional technical positions (titles).
  5. These projects are exempt from the "one application per project type per year" restriction.
  6. An individual is limited to one SDIC project, whether currently applied for (as applicant) or ongoing (as PI). Projects concluding in the current application year are excluded from this count.
  7. For further details on applicant eligibility, please refer to the 2026 National Natural Science Foundation of China Program Guide.

Important Dates: