2026 National Social Science Grants

2026 National Social Science Grants
2026年度国家社会科学基金年度项目

May 7, 2026

The Official Announcement in Chinese

Sponsor:

National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences (NOPSS)

About:

The 2026 National Social Science Grants are now open for application. The National Social Science Grants cover 23 disciplines including Philosophy, Economics, Statistics, Law, Sociology, History, Management, Political Science, Literature, and so on; and 2 research fields including Technology and Society and Classical Studies.

Applicants can propose their own research topics. In addition, applicants are also encouraged to refer to the “2026 National Social Science Grants Key Research Directions” (see Attachment) to propose research topics. More details can be found in the official announcement.

Program Types and Funding Scale:

• Key Program 重点项目: RMB 350,000
• General Program 一般项目: RMB 200,000
• Young Scholar Program 青年项目: RMB 200,000

Funding Period:

In general, the project period for basic theoretical research is three to five years, and applied strategic research is two to three years.

Eligibility Requirements:

• The applicant should be a Chinese citizen. S/he should either hold a senior professional title or have a doctoral degree when applying for the Key Program and General Program.
• The age requirements for the Young Scholar Program: Male applicants should be no older than 35 years old (born after June 7, 1991), and female applicants should be no older than 40 years old (born after June 7, 1986).
• For any national scientific research projects that are closely related to the applicant’s completed projects, the applicant must provide detailed information on the connection and difference. The applicant may not apply for multiple project completions with the same achievement that is basically the same or similar in content.
• Applicants can only apply for one National Social Science Grants annual program, and cannot participate in other National Social Science Grant projects as members.
• Research team members can participate in the application of up to two National Social Science Grants annual project; members of the research team of ongoing national projects can participate in the application of up to one application.
• Applicants who apply for this annual project cannot apply for the 2025 National Social Science Grants Major Project.
• Applicant who is leading any ongoing programs sponsored by NSFC, NOPSS, or any other national level research project as a PI cannot apply this year.
• Applicant who is applying for 2024 NSFC, MOE Humanities and Social Sciences Grant, or any other national level research project cannot apply this year.
• Please refer to the official announcement for more eligibility information.

The application is quota-based. An internal nomination will be organized if the number of intents exceeds the allocated quota. 

Important Dates: