2025 NSFC-RS, FWO, CNR, and BRFFR Joint Research Program
2025年度国家自然科学基金委员会与英国、比利时、意大利、白俄罗斯科研资助机构合作交流项目
April 25, 2025
The Official Announcement in Chinese
Sponsor:
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
Royal Society of the United Kingdom (RS)
Flemish Research Foundation of Belgium (FWO)
National Research Council of Italy (CNR)
Belarusian Foundation for Basic Research (BRFFR)
About:
According to the cooperation agreement and subsequent consensus reached between the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Royal Society (RS) of the United Kingdom, the Flemish Research Foundation (FWO) of Belgium, the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and the Belarusian Foundation for Basic Research (BRFFR), our Commission and the above-mentioned funding agencies will continue to jointly fund cooperation and exchanges between Chinese and foreign researchers in 2025.
Project Description:
| Cooperating countries | U.K. | Belgium | Italy | Belarus |
| Counterpart Funding Agency | RS | FWO | CNR | BRFFR |
| Proposed funding areas | Mathematics and physics, chemistry, life science, earth science, engineering and materials, information, medicine | Mathematics and physics, chemistry, life science, earth science, engineering and materials, information, management, medicine | 1. Renewable energy (Application code 1 must select the application code under E06) 2. Agriculture and Food Sciences (Application code 1 must be selected from C13-C20 or C22) | Mathematics and physics, chemistry, life science, earth science, engineering and materials, information, medicine |
| Special Requirements | Encourage new collaborations between China and the UK and involve young researchers (do not fund partnerships between individuals who have had prior colleague or supervisor-student relationships.) | Young researchers are encouraged to apply or participate in the application | Italian collaborators must be researchers employed by CNR | / |
| Funding scale (number of projects) | About 70 items | About 15 items | No more than 4 items | No more than 24 items |
| Funding Amount | The Chinese funding intensity shall not exceed RMB 150,000 per project, and foreign funding agencies shall provide corresponding funding to foreign partners. | |||
| Allowable costs | International travel expenses (economy class air tickets) and accommodation, food, inter-city transportation and small bilateral seminar expenses for mutual visits between Chinese and foreign researchers. | |||
| Project Period | 2 years. The research period in the application should be from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027 | |||
Requirements:
- Chinese applicants must be currently undertaking (as the PI or participant) a NSFC project (except for cooperative exchange projects) with a duration of at least three years, with an end date on or after December 31, 2026. The applicant must be based on this existing project. The cooperative exchange should be closely centered on the research content of the underlying NSFC project.
- Foreign collaborators should meet the eligibility requirements of counterpart funding agencies.
- Both Chinese and foreign applicants must submit project applications to the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the counterpart funding agency respectively. Applications submitted by one party alone will not be accepted.
- This project is an international (regional) cooperation and exchange project and is NOT included in the total number of applied and undertaken projects.
- It is NOT subject to the restriction that “applicants can only apply for one project of the same type in the same year”.
- The total number of cooperation and exchange projects under the same inter-organizational agreement framework that you have applied for as an applicant and are currently undertaking as a project leader is limited to one.
- Please refer to the 2025 NSFC Official Program Guide for more eligibility requirements.
Important Dates:
| DATES (Shanghai Time) | TO BE COMPLETED |
|---|---|
| By May 9, 2025 | People who intend to apply should notify the Research Grants Office at shanghai.researchgrants@nyu.edu. |
| By June 16, 2025 | Please send your application to us for the institutional review. |
| By June 23, 2025 | Finalize and submit your application through the NSFC online system. |
For more information related to the foreign institutions’ deadlines, please refer to the official announcement.